tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123Sat, 29 Jul 2017 11:50:43 +0000BloggingDietJapaneseAlhambraBizarroBudgetChickenChineseChiu ChowFlight of the ConchordsGeorgeHainaneseHomeKoreanKoreatownLatin foodLittle TokyoMushroomsOutdoorsPuerto RicoTVThe SimpsonsYakitorianti-dietasparagusasparagus peeconvenience storesdonutstravelvacationworkDaily GluttonyEAT, SLEEP, DREAM, PLAY, TALK, THINK, LOVE FOOD. ALL DAY. EVERY DAY.http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)Blogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-5273084224945565561Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:19:00 +00002009-02-24T21:27:14.275-08:00I've Moved!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3523/3296063841_35eca526dd.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3523/3296063841_35eca526dd.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />That ain't all gut, yo. There was a baby growing in there.<br /><br />Now you get to look at a photo of pregnant DG every time you go to this blog instead of seeing that same old post from 2007 about <a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/11/now-im-one-of-those-girls.html">asparagus pee</a>!<br /><br />Anyways, this happened and that happened, and to make a long story short, I have a new blog called <a href="http://www.rantsandcraves.com/">Rants and Craves</a>. Hit it up to see me eat and bitch, and then eat some more.<br /><br />Ciao,<br />DGhttp://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2009/02/ive-moved.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-1379898022756643703Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:40:00 +00002007-11-16T10:49:48.174-08:00asparagusasparagus peeworkNow I'm One Of "Those" Girls<span style="font-size:85%;">Dear Lady,<br /><br />Please do not decide to go to the bathroom after I had already gone in there and </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/05/food-mysteries-unsolved-asparagus-pee.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">pee'd out my roasted asparagus lunch</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. And please do not come out of your stall right when I'm trying to do a rush hand washing job so as to not reveal myself as the "stinky pee girl." That's not nice.<br /><br />Hugs,<br />DG </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/11/now-im-one-of-those-girls.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-7719291847916084488Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:58:00 +00002007-09-23T21:04:43.494-07:00Latin foodPuerto RicotravelvacationPuerto Rico: A Brand New Flava In My Ear<div align="left"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/1424119357_8375c3d969.jpg?v=0"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/1424119357_8375c3d969.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Ah September.</em><br /><br />This September is particularly important to me because it marks A) the fact that my husband and I have survived one year of </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-1-section-b-saying-i-do.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">marriage</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> without killing each other and B) the fact that in a year, we haven't taken any sort of vacation. Those two facts combined was enough reason for us to pack our bags and head eastward to my husband's native <strong>Puerto Rico</strong>.<br /><br />They call the island <strong>"La Isla Del Encanto"</strong> (The Island Of Enchantment) and after a visit of only a week, I can see why. Because after that one week, there are many things I miss about it already. I miss that all its buildings, no matter if in wealthy community or in a not-so-wealthy one, are painted in colors that make you think of ice cream and salt water taffy. I miss the singing of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coqui" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">coquí</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, a type of tree frog native to the island, at night. I miss the warmth and hospitality of my in-laws and everyone else that I met. And the food...<br /><br />Yes, I miss the food dearly.<br /><br />Until last week, my understanding of Puerto Rican food has been based on four meals: two good but very limited meals from a </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/maui-part-4-section-c-dont-forget.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Puerto Rican cafe in Maui</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> of all places and from my husband's grandmother, and two bad ones from a couple of half-assed but rare-to-come-by Puerto Rican-slash-Mexican-or-pan-Caribbean joints here in the Southland. Until last week, my knowledge of Puerto Rican food was limited pretty much to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteles" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">pasteles</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, a dish similar to tamales but made with plantains instead of corn masa and wrapped in a banana leaf instead of a corn husk, and arroz con gandules (rice with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_peas" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">pigeon peas</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">). But after my trip, my experience with Puerto Rican flavors expanded in a big way, and I was lucky enough to taste it both the home-cooked- and restaurant-cooked way.<br /><br />So what is Puerto Rican food like? Well first let me show you where and what I ate...<br /><br />Mami's (a.k.a. my Mother-In-Law's) meal of <strong>carne mechada</strong>, <strong>arroz y habichuelas</strong>, <strong>amarillos</strong>, and <strong>guineos en escabeche</strong> could not have been any more comforting after a long trip out from the mainland. Beef braised with potatoes, green olives, onion and tomato paired with Puerto Rico's "daily bread"--medium-grain rice with a nice hint of oil, stewed pink beans, and sweet plantains--warmed and soothed the soul despite heat and humidity that made one feel like they were breathing hot mud.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1051/1424965456_68dc60585d.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1051/1424965456_68dc60585d.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">carne mechada</span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A dish that I'd never heard of was <strong>guineos en escabeche</strong>, a dish of green bananas marinated in oil, vinegar, onion and garlic. Both filling and slightly refreshing from the unripe banana flavor, this is a dish that has a definite acquired taste.<br /><br /></span></div><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1205/1424965684_4822d267d0.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1205/1424965684_4822d267d0.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> </span><p align="center"></a><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">guineos en escabeche</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Mami's <strong>arroz con salchichas</strong>, or rice with vienna sausages, was downright ghetto, and I <em>loved</em> it. How many times have I thrown Spam and corn together to make fried rice? How many times did my Grandma slice hot dogs up and throw them into her fried rice? How do you think </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/02/pittsburg-21-seattle-10-kimchi-bokum.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">kimchi bokum-bap</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> was created? The same way arroz con salchichas was invented, I'm sure. I gobbled this up, along with a delicious <strong>pastel</strong> filled with tender pork and a <strong>pastelillo</strong>, an empanada-like pastry filled with a tasty ground beef and cheese mixture.<br /><br /></span><p></p><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1073/1424086655_740baccdd8.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1073/1424086655_740baccdd8.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> </span><p align="center"></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">pastel y arroz con salchichas</span><br /></span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1165/1429778779_52e6e28d70.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1165/1429778779_52e6e28d70.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> </span><p align="left"></a><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">pastelillo</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">My husband and I stayed in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_Verde,_Puerto_Rico" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Isla Verde</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, a beachy area near the airport that's densely packed with hotels and tourists. I think it's where alot of Caribbean cruise goers make their layover, hence the abundance of tourist trappy chain restaurants such as Ruth's Chris Steak House and Momoyama in the area. For us, however, it was pretty much all about roadside food, and in Puerto Rico, there is definitely no lack of it. We ate at <strong>Bebo's BBQ</strong> one night, drive-in like joint located in Carolina right alongside the highway. We were the only tourists amongst a long line of locals--a good sign if you ask me. For a little over thirteen bucks, we got ourselves three huge plates of food: a half pound of <strong>lechon asado</strong> (roast pork) roasted so that the meat stayed juicy-tender and the skin had a perfect crackly crunch, one half a <strong>pollo asado</strong> (roast chicken) also perfectly roasted, some <strong>amarillos</strong> (sauteed plantains) and a plate of <strong>morcilla</strong> (Sausage stuffed with blood and rice).<br /><br /></span><p></p><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1436/1424965978_1927f31b6a.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1436/1424965978_1927f31b6a.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> </span><p align="left"></a><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">lechon asado</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">I wanted to like the morcilla--I really did--but it was the intense </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culantro" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">culantro</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> flavor in the thing that sent me away. Culantro is an herb used frequently in Puerto Rican cooking--an herb that's like cilantro's evil-er twin brother--and those that know me well know that I'll eat pretty much anything--stomach, intestines, blood, liver, kidneys--but </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/04/fight-power.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">nothing makes me gag faster than that vile soapy weed</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. No offense, cilantro and culantro lovers.<br /><br /></span><p></p><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1413/1424966246_99e05316d5.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1413/1424966246_99e05316d5.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">morcilla sausage</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">One of the favorite parts of this trip was the drive along the northeastern coast of the island. As we left Isla Verde and headed east into the towns of Piñones and Loíza, there was literally food kiosk after food kiosk on the sides of the road. This <em>had</em> to be unreal, right? Was I dreaming that I could literally stop and get some good, down-home food and snacks, drive off, stop at the beach and play, get back in the car, drive down the road some more, stop at another food kiosk and repeat the process over and over again? If I had been dreaming, I'd never want to wake up. But it was all real. It was not a dream.</span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1153/1424084485_8e6c387c89.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1153/1424084485_8e6c387c89.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">imagine this times a hundred</span></div><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/1425091486_1c90d68abe.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/1425091486_1c90d68abe.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:85%;">I think it was a good thing that it was still relatively early and that many of these <strong>kioskos</strong> were not open for business yet, else I would have had to stop at all of them. And then I would have gained 40 pounds solely from all the fried snacks I would have eaten. No, fortunately for me, we stopped at only a few and I perhaps gained only 10 pounds from all the delicious snacks I ate. At any one of these kioskos, you can get <strong>mofongo</strong> (a dish made of mashed fried green plantains), <strong>arroz con jueyes</strong> (rice with crab), a variety of seafood cocktails, and best of all, a variety of deep fried snacks. My favorite one was the <strong>pionono</strong>, made of sweet plantain stuffed with seasoned ground beef and deep fried--so fucking good with its crispy, caramelized exterior that gave way to a juicy interior of both sweet and salty flavors.</span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/1424967794_fe2d267f62.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/1424967794_fe2d267f62.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">alcapurrias and bacalaitos being prepared</span></div><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/1424085301_bda32a6b4c.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/1424085301_bda32a6b4c.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">pionono</span></div><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1266/1424969114_d6f56ffce6.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1266/1424969114_d6f56ffce6.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">a closer look at the pionono</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">I also loved the popular alcapurria, a fried tube-shaped snack made of a mixture of plantains and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yautia">yautia </a>and stuffed with meat, in this case, ground beef.</span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1249/1424968428_eba213f707.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1249/1424968428_eba213f707.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">alcapurria</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">I wish that the place that made my <strong>bacalaito</strong>, a salt cod fritter and another local favorite, had made it better. The one we had tasted of stale oil and we were just too stuffed to try one from another place.</span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1313/1424084011_7d73f7f74a.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1313/1424084011_7d73f7f74a.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">bacalaito</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">For about a buck more at most of these kioskos, you can add a cup of ice cold <strong>mavi</strong>, a drink made of the bark of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colubrina" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Colubrina tree</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and sugar. Definitely an acquired taste, mavi has a sweetish-tartish taste to it and is probably what drinking liquid </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/04/not-haw-as-in-hee-haw.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">haw flakes</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> would be like. Sorry, but I think I like my haw flakes better in solid form.</span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/1424085987_2b10e7ba7a.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/1424085987_2b10e7ba7a.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">mavi</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">And as if the kioskos in Piñones and Loíza were not enough, there are even more a little further eastward in the coastal town of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luquillo" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Luquillo</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. Here, there is about a three block stretch of end-on-end kioskos selling the same types of foods.<br /></span><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1197/1425090374_37a51fc25f.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1197/1425090374_37a51fc25f.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">luquillo's seemingly endless stretch of kioskos</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">It was here that I tried <strong>mofongo</strong> for the first time and fell in love. It's a dish made with fried green plantains mashed with garlic, oil and chicharrones, served either with a side of meat or <em>relleno</em> (filled) with some type of meat. I chose to have mine <strong>con carne frita</strong>, with fried pork chunks. The pork was fried until the meat was a wee bit crispy and until its luscious layer of fat had a nice snap to it. Paired with the garlicky salitiness of the mofongo, I was in heaven. </span><p></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/1424086993_e304e21a66.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/1424086993_e304e21a66.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">mofongo con carne frita</span></div><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1371/1424970222_b52640419d.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1371/1424970222_b52640419d.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">now that's beauty</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Afterwards, I had some cold coconut water (<strong>coco frio</strong>) served in a whole coconut to wash it down. Good, but the place we got it from needed to serve it colder.</span></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1386/1424970636_82142140a7.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1386/1424970636_82142140a7.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">coco frio</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">While in Luquillo, we also tried a place called <strong>King Seafood</strong> that Mami recommended, a place not within the slew of kioskos, but tucked away on another street. It was here that I really discovered how fresh Puerto Rican seafood can be. Though the name in Spanish escapes me, we had these <strong>fried mahi-mahi nuggets</strong> that were so damn fresh that I almost mistook them for chicken.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/1429901105_b59f893b88.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/1429901105_b59f893b88.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">mcfreshfishnuggets</span></div><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Asopao</strong>, a soup made with some sort of meat (in this case shrimp) and rice, was enjoyed by all except yours truly because of its heavy culantro flavor.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1123/1424971622_fa47444c29.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1123/1424971622_fa47444c29.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">asopao de camarrones</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Ensalada de pulpo</strong>, a cocktail-like salad of octopus, peppers and onions, was refreshing after having eaten so much fried food and red meat and further showcased the island's fresh seafood.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1204/1424970950_31c246678e.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1204/1424970950_31c246678e.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">ensalada de pulpo</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">On the side, some <strong>tostones</strong>, fried patties of green plantain, and <strong>sorullitos de maíz</strong>, fried corn fritters reminiscent of hushpuppies, were welcome additions to our meal. </span><p></p><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1312/1424971302_1604ad3267.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1312/1424971302_1604ad3267.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">tostones</span></div><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/1429915881_9955a916ab.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/1429915881_9955a916ab.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">sorullitos de maíz</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">So what is Puerto Rican food like, you ask? From what I know now, it's a cuisine that combines Indian, Spanish, and African influences into a flavor all its own. Fried, stewed and roasted meats are popular and are often served with rice and beans or some sort of tropical starchy fruit/root/tuber such as the plantain or yucca. Foods are generously seasoned, say, with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofrito" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>sofrito</strong></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, <strong>adobo</strong>, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achiote" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>achiote</strong></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> or <strong>sazón</strong>, but are not spicy in a scotch bonnet pepper sort of way. I could go on and on with my descriptions and observations about Puerto Rican cuisine, but the most important thing I took away was that wherever I ate, whether it was at Mami's house or at some guy's <strong>pincho</strong> stand on the side of the road, there was alot of heart put into this food...the kind of passion that comes only when one reaches to the depths of one's soul to cook like it's the last time they'll ever cook. That, my friends, is Puerto Rican cuisine. </span></p>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/09/puerto-rico-brand-new-flava-in-my-ear.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)96tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-3574754843875440210Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:37:00 +00002007-08-11T14:58:01.029-07:00Flight of the ConchordsTVFood Of The Conchords: So Hot They're Like A Curry<a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1275/1086012888_618f15ed95.jpg?v=0"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1275/1086012888_618f15ed95.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">Folk-comedy duos from New Zealand who make me laugh my ass off are pretty cute. Folk-comedy duos from New Zealand who make me laugh my ass off AND who have subtle-but-recurring food themes on their HBO show </span><a href="http://www.hbo.com/conchords/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Flight Of The Conchords</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> are mother flipping hot.<br /><br />After only eight 30-minute episodes that have aired thus far, I've heard about </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zzh79J2fC0" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">talking stoves</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00uaB51ivXU" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">animated racist dragons that cry jelly bean tears</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, Chinese roast duck, samosas, Muesli, lasagna for one, a </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT5AQIlmM0I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">girl so hot she's like a curry</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, buying kebabs for a girl who's so beautiful she could be a part-time model, girls and spaghetti, and best of all, croissants and wingmen. It's confirmed: I have a major geeky-crush on these guys. They make me want to do my hair into a flip, throw on my favorite shift dress and go have a carefree picnic in the park followed by a glittery night out at the discotheque.<br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FUVagbFcSUU"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FUVagbFcSUU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br />Don't you wish all trips to <em>le supermarché</em> were this fun?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;"><a href="http://www.hbo.com/conchords">Flight Of The Conchords</a></span></strong><br />Sundays at 10:30pm , HBO.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>(photos--from left to right, top to bottom--courtesy of : wikimedia.org, New York Apple Country, Barilla, answers.com, HBO, frenchfriends.info, Whisk and Pin, Daily Gluttony, Daily Gluttony, Marions Kochbuch, Dominik Hundhammer via wikimedia.org, rouiba.com, Recipes4us, Kansas State University Animal Sciences &amp; Industry, Oregon State University Food Resource, All Creatures)</em></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/08/food-of-conchords-so-hot-theyre-like.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-8634526495516984294Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:50:00 +00002007-07-29T20:52:58.225-07:00anti-dietconvenience storesdonutsThe SimpsonsMmmm, donuts...<a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1414/946174849_bcd841b0cb.jpg?v=0"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1414/946174849_bcd841b0cb.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">No, I am not going to go see </span><a href="http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">the movie</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, but I just <em>had</em> to have one of </span><a href="http://www.7-eleven.com/sip_donut.asp" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">these</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. I mean, come on, it's <em>pink</em>!</span><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Needless to say, I crashed hard within about an hour. D'oh!</span></div></div>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/07/mmmm-donuts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-5999679305850766505Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:17:00 +00002007-06-14T14:35:44.860-07:00AlhambraChickenChineseChiu ChowHainaneseCockfight!: Savoy Kitchen Vs. Dong Nguyen, Alhambra<a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1419/545457065_314cbe9cd0.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1419/545457065_314cbe9cd0.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >(photo courtesy of </span><a href="http://www.gotouring.com/"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >http://www.gotouring.com/</span></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >)</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A long time ago in a Chinese province far, far away, someone created a dish that's almost ingenious in its simplicity. Someone took a fat hen, boiled the thing until the meat was plump and tender, and served it on some chicken stock-flavored rice. Someone did this and before you know it, this dish from the Chinese province of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan">Hainan</a> found its way into neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam and eventually into the stomachs of those of us who have fallen in love with the simple dish otherwise known as <strong>Hainan Chicken Rice</strong>.<br /><br />If you've never had Hainan Chicken Rice before, I suggest you try it because simply put, it's fucking good. OK, OK, so maybe it's not orgasmic good like </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/12/twelve-courses-of-omakase-azami-sushi.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">sushi</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> is or fancy, multi-dimensional good like say, </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/02/gift-of-grub-or-better-late-than-never.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">a dinner at Providence</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, but like I said, it's simple good. It's tasty. It's comforting. It's unoffensive in every possible way except maybe to a vegetarian.<br /><br />Fortunately for me and my Hainan Chicken Rice cravings as of late, there are two places in </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/04/does-quarterly-gluttony-have-same-ring.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">my new 'hood</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> that I know of where at least 65% of the diners at any given time are eating this dish. It would only be appropriate, then, that last week, I decided to stage a <em><strong>cockfight</strong></em>: Would <strong>Savoy Kitchen's</strong> Hainan Chicken Rice rip its opponent from down the street, <strong>Dong Nguyen,</strong> apart, or would Dong Nguyen show Savoy Kitchen who's boss?<br /><br /></span><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1069/545456989_061cdc9f96.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1069/545456989_061cdc9f96.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >In this corner...Savoy Kitchen!</span></div><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1394/545457073_999da554e1.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1394/545457073_999da554e1.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >And in this corner...Dong Nguyen!</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*Ding, Ding!*<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Round One: The Chicken Itself.</span></strong><br /><br />If there's one thing I can't stand, it's places that serve Cantonese-style boiled chicken, which has more of an al dente bite and where alot of the connective tissue remains, and try to pass it off as Hainan Chicken. Fortunately both Savoy and Dong Nguyen's chicken is boiled until the meat is plump, tender and falling off the bone, both chickens having the slight taste of chicken-y oil, which trust me, is a good thing. Savoy's chicken is cut into larger, cleaner chunks whereas Dong Nguyen's chicken was cut into smaller pieces and had bone shards that kept stabbing the roof of my mouth. <strong>The winner?</strong> <strong>Savoy Kitchen</strong> because I prefer bone shard-free eating.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Round Two: The Rice.</span></strong><br /><br />I am not kidding when I say that I could eat Hainan Chicken Rice-Rice by itself. If I could, I would substitute the <strong>chicken-fat-drizzled</strong> or <strong>cooked-in-chicken-stock jasmine rice</strong> for the white rice that I normally eat with my meals, problem being that I would end up as big as a house. <strong>This one was a tie for me.</strong> The rice both at Savoy and at Dong Nguyen, being fluffy and full of chicken-y goodness without being too oily, would definitely put me into big, fat house-hood. It was difficult to tell them apart, really. I guess if I had to be really specific then I'd say that Dong Nguyen's rice was a little more chicken-y; Savoy's had more of a twinge of oil and salt. But I liked them both just as much.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Round Three: The Sauces</span></strong><br /><br />Say what you will about how much you love the chicken or the rice on your Hainan Chicken Rice, but Hainan Chicken Rice just isn't Hainan Chicken Rice without the dipping sauce or sauces that come with. The Hainan Chicken Rice that I'm used to is typically served with a trio of dipping sauces: one--<strong>a sauce of minced ginger and oil</strong>, two--a spicy <strong>sambal</strong> of red chile and lime and three--a <strong>dark soy sauce</strong>. All three work in unison to add some salty, spicy and even sweet touches to the already delicious dish. Savoy Kitchen's version, which is more true to Singaporean form, comes with these exact three sauces which, because I love them so much, are usually refilled at least once before I'm done.<br /></span><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1011/545457159_044b88cc96.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1011/545457159_044b88cc96.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Savoy Kitchen's Dipping Sauces</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">But as with foods like pizza and barbeque, there are also regional differences in Hainan Chicken Rice, which is why I'm assuming that since Dong Nguyen is of Vietnamese/</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiuchow_cuisine" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Chiu Chow</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> influence, their Hainan Chicken Rice is served with a <strong>sweet, vinegary dipping sauce</strong> that's a teeny bit reminiscent of <strong>ngoc cham</strong> (the dipping sauce that normally pairs with cha gio a.k.a. fried Vietnamese spring rolls) only spiked with ginger and more on the sweet side. <strong>The winner? Savoy Kitchen.</strong> Savoy Kitchen's sauce trio are true team players that work so well in unison with the chicken and rice, hence the refills. As for Dong Nguyen's sauce, not so much. Although it was markedly different than Savoy's sauces, it just wasn't as nearly as complimentary to the big picture, which is why I hardly used it.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Bonus Round: Atmosphere</span></strong><br /><br /><strong>This one's a draw</strong> too because it just depends on what floats your boat. Savoy Kitchen has an outdoor seating area that's pretty nice on a warm Southern California evening. But it's small and gets really crowded with young San Gabriel Valley hipsters sporting the latest in cell-phone technology (including the very necessary Sanrio cell phone charm), so be prepared to wait for a table. Other menu items include Hong Kong Coffeeshop-style fare such as curries and baked rice dishes and even pizzas and pastas. Service is pretty quick, however, especially if ordering the Hainan Chicken Rice, which the place seems to crank out at factory speed.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1391/545457147_d284a0836f.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1391/545457147_d284a0836f.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Hipster hangout, or...</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Dong Nguyen is surrounded by 168 Chinese supermarket, a bargain clothing store, and a CVS Pharmacy in an odd strip mall whose tenants have cowboy movie-inspired facades. The atmosphere is virtually zero (which is probably why their Hainan Chicken Rice is twenty-five cents less than Savoy's at six bucks vs. six-and-a-quarter) but the place is clean, and you won't have to wait amongst a crowd of cigarette smoking, </span><a href="http://www.dolcegabbana.it/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">D&G</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">-clad twenty-somethings. Go here if you're not in the mood to accompany your Hainan Chicken Rice with pizza since typical Chiu Chow dishes such as <strong>hu tieu</strong> can be found here instead. Oh, and as opposed to Savoy's street parking situation, there is plenty of lot parking available.<br /></span><br /><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/545457001_fabcd0ab54.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/545457001_fabcd0ab54.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> <div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >...faux western stripmall?</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">So the <strong>winner of this cockfight</strong>, not by death or knockout, but by unanimous decision, is...<em>(drumroll please)</em>...<strong>Savoy Kitchen!</strong> In the end, I just think that Savoy Kitchen delivers a much tighter package with its Hainan Chicken Rice. But that's not to say that Dong Nguyen doesn't put up a good fight. I mean, hey, if I'm jonesin' for some Hainan Chicken Rice and the wait at Savoy is too long, I'm heading down the street and Dong Nguyen wins.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Savoy Kitchen</span></strong><br />138 E. Valley Blvd.<br />Alhambra, CA 91801<br />(626) 308-9535</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Closed Sundays. Cash Only.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Dong Nguyen</span></strong><br />1433 E. Valley Blvd.<br />Alhambra, CA 91801<br />(626) 300-8618 </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Closed Thursdays. Cash Only.</span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/06/cockfight-savoy-kitchen-vs-dong-nguyen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-2846823755500643757Mon, 04 Jun 2007 03:17:00 +00002007-06-03T20:45:05.317-07:00HomeMushroomsOutdoorsWild Mushroom Risotto Anyone?<a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/529095711_a8f8a31ed3.jpg?v=0"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/529095711_a8f8a31ed3.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Having your own backyard for the first time opens your eyes up to a whole new world of stuff.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Like today, I noticed that there are 'shrooms sprouting up in random places on my lawn. Question is, are they edible, poisonous, or hallucinogenic? I don't think I'll ever find out, but if I had to rank them in order of what I'd prefer, I'd choose number one first, then number three, and number two last. </span></div>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/06/wild-mushroom-risotto-anyone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-1989522707613413752Tue, 22 May 2007 05:00:00 +00002007-05-21T22:08:44.785-07:00KoreanKoreatownShow Me Some Skin: Shik Do Rak, Koreatown<div align="center"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/503905124_3e434767d8.jpg?v=0"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/503905124_3e434767d8.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a> </div><span style="font-size:85%;">Let's perform a little exercise, shall we? Read the following lines and tell me what comes to mind:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>I love skin.<br /><br />I love it when it's dry.<br /><br />I love it when it's wet.<br /><br />I love it when it's a little bit salty.<br /><br />I love to lick it. I love to bite it. I love to smack it up, flip it, rub it down...</em><br /><br />Now I'm assuming that most of you need to get your mind out of the gutter.<br /><br />But if you're at all in touch with your Asian side, you'll know that since the Chinese word for food wrapper is also the word for "skin," that I could <em>also</em> be talking about that. You know, like wonton wrappers, er, I mean skins. Eggroll skins. Gyoza skins. Mu Shu skins. Mandoo skins. Xiu Long Bao skins. Burrito skins (aka tortillas) And in this case, I am.<br /><br /></span><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/504030626_8c2119d66d.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">See what I mean?</span> </span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">From what I hear, as far as a certain type of Korean skin is concerned, <strong>Shik Do Rak</strong> in Koreatown is apparently the self-proclaimed Home-Of-It.<br /><br />And so it was that Mr. DG and I met up at Shik Do Rak with our favorite foodblogging couple, Jeni of </span><a href="http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Oishii Eats</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and Dylan of </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Eat, Drink, & Be Merry</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> to see what this skin was all about. No, I'm not talking about Korean burlesque, you naughty little minxes. No, no, I'm talking about <strong>duk bo sam</strong>, otherwise known as Korean rice wrappers.<br /><br />The process at Shik Do Rak is pretty simple. Grill up your meat. Dip it into the delicious garlicky, beany, red pepper paste and/or into the salted oil. Put it onto a square of duk bo sam. Top with some of the flavorless-needed-to-be-dressed <strong>lettuce salad</strong>. Wrap it up. Eat. Repeat. Have some of the not-too-plentiful <strong>panchan</strong> and some <strong>Hite beer</strong> while you're at it. Shik Do Rak's menu isn't all too complicated either with its handful of meat choices and just a sprinkling of other non-BBQ dishes. We did this whole wrap thing with some <strong>chadol baegi</strong> which are thin, ribbon-like slices of beef (very reminiscent of the beef curls that you see at those Mongolian BBQ places), <strong>beef tongue</strong> and <strong>beef short rib</strong>. Making things even easier is the restaurant's super-attentive wait staff: just ask and you shall receive. And if for some strange reason you don't, just ask the ultra-friendly owner--a cute little older gentleman who literally goes to each table to check on them--and you definitely shall receive.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/503905128_1596fadafd.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/503905128_1596fadafd.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#666666;"><div align="center">This...</div></span><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/503905132_6c981a658a.jpg?v=0"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/503905132_6c981a658a.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> </span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#666666;"><div align="center">Plus this (cooked of course)...</div></span></span><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/503905138_b43e0fabcc.jpg?v=0" border="0" /> </span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">And this...</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/503905170_06fe245e57.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">Equals this!</span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">I liked this place, but definitely not because of the meat. Though its overall quality was decent, its flavor left something to be desired because it wasn't pre-marinated. No, my friends, it's all about the <em>duk bo sam</em> here. There's something about the cool, chewy snap of the wrapper against the freshly grilled meat that has one coming back for more. After all, this is the house of skin, er, I mean duk bo sam, isn't it?<br /><br /><strong>Shik Do Rak</strong><br />2501 W. Olympic Blvd.<br />Los Angeles, CA 90006<br />(213) 384-4148<br /><br />(To get Eat, Drink, &amp; Be Merry's take on our Shik Do Rak outing, go </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2007/05/shik-do-rak-koreatown-la-home-of-rice.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">!)<br /></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/05/show-me-some-skin-shik-do-rak-koreatown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116624371615782450Tue, 15 May 2007 19:47:00 +00002007-05-15T12:52:30.400-07:00BizarroBloggingJapaneseLittle TokyoYakitoriDG's Basement Tapes: Restaurant Koshiji, Little Tokyo<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1600/880748/bizarro%20jerry%202.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/633952/bizarro%20jerry%202.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(This post is the first in a series of gawd-knows-how-many unfinished posts I have hidden deep in the depths of my post library. Had I been more on top of it, this post should have been published in December.)</span><br /><br />There are Los Angeles foodbloggers.<br /><br />And there are San Diego foodbloggers.<br /><br />And there would certainly come a time for the two to meet. So when <a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/" target="_blank">Kirk</a>, our beloved foodblogger from San Diego, emailed me to tell me he'd be in town, I arranged a mini get-together of local bloggers for the two groups so co-mingle. But somewhere in that fucked-up, <a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/05/izakaya-superman-and-set-theory-musha.html">obsessed-with-Bizarro</a>-mind of mine, I couldn't help but think of the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bizarro_Jerry_%28Seinfeld_episode%29" target="_blank">Bizarro Jerry</a>" episode of Seinfeld where Jerry, George and Kramer finally come face to face with Elaine's new friends who bore an uncanny resemblance to her OG chums. What if, despite so many similarities most of which revolve around our common passion for food, we had absolutely nothing to talk about once we met up? I imagined uncomfortable moments of silence, obligatory questions like "So...I hear it's going to rain this weekend" followed by "Uh yeah. Mm-hmm" and twiddling thumbs.<br /><br />Fortunately, however, our Bizarro meet up was </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >far</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> from boring. On a Saturday night, some of us Angeleno foodbloggers--<a href="http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Oishii Eats</a>, <a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Eat, Drink, and Be Merry</a>, <a href="http://bestofla.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Best of LA</a>, <a href="http://therandomburrito.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rick James/Diet Chili Cheese Fries</a>, and myself--came face-to-face with Kirk and fellow San Diegan food fiend Jack at Little Tokyo's <strong>Restaurant Koshiji</strong>. I don't think there was one odd moment of silence as we all had so much to talk about; this was the first time meeting and/or hanging out with Kirk for some of us but it felt as though all of us had known each other for years. I'm really glad to have added Kirk--such a funny, kind and caring person--to my growing circle of food-loving friends.<br /><br />Unlike its loud & trafficky Bizarro twin Kokekokko down the street, Koshiji is more of a low-key yakitori joint. Service can be extremely slow which could swing the pendulum on meetups like ours either way: either it could make things even more uncomfortable if say, the foodbloggers from the other side of town </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >really are</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> like Bizarro Jerry, or in our case, it gave us more time to chat over the good chow we've had in recent weeks and drool over Kirk's <a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/12/railroad_trip_u.html" target="_blank&quot;">recent</a> <a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/12/railroad_trip_u_1.html" target="_blank">experience at</a><a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/12/railroad_trip_u_2.html" target="_blank">Urusawa</a>.<br /><br />Small cups of raw vegetables with a small dish of miso-based dipping sauce seem to be included with each person's place setting; a much welcomed snack while we waited for our server to take our order and bring us our food, but unfortunately not quite enough for people like ourselves who were starving.<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/494229812_3ae85c7f3d.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/494229812_3ae85c7f3d.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" >Cup O' Veg</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;">Finally, our food started to arrive. Although we all ordered separately, our food came out very much un-separately, so it took some investigating to remember who ordered what and in what quantities. Luckily, one of the things Isaac and I ordered was Koshiji's <strong>chicken yakitori course</strong>, so those skewers had been separated from the rest of the pack.<br /><br />The chicken-on-a-stick course was on the whole, unimpressive. The plain ol' poultry meat skewers--<strong>negima (chicken w/ green onion)</strong>, <strong>tsukune (chicken meat ball)</strong>, <strong>sasami (chicken breast with shiso leaf)</strong>, <strong>kamo (duck breast w/ miso sauce)</strong> and <strong>tebakara (chicken wings)</strong>--though not bad, didn't have that just-came-off-the-grill caramelized and smoky wow-factor that I was looking for. My favorite part of a yakitori meal, however, comes not so much from the chicken-meats-on-a-stick but rather from the chicken-parts-on-a-stick. While the <strong>liver</strong> skewer was just plain gross, the crunchy-textured <strong>sunagimo</strong>, or <strong>chicken gizzard</strong>, skewer was pretty damn good as were the cute little <strong>quail-eggs-on-a-stick</strong>, better known as <strong>uzura</strong>.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/494248698_d9c2e9e51e.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/494248698_d9c2e9e51e.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" > Just So-So Chicken-Parts-On-A-Stick</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;">Our yakitori chicken course came with a bowl of <strong>soboro-don</strong>, a hearty bowl of seasoned ground chicken with egg over rice, and a small cup of broth with...<a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/04/fight-power.html" target="_blank">cilantro</a>???? Koshiji lost major points with me right there--what person in their right mind puts cilantro on Japanese food? The soup was given straight to Isaac. He loved it. Enough said. As for the soboro-don, I thought it was a little on the bland side, not quite as tasty as the one I'd had down the street at Kokekokko.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/494229822_f6245e2e40.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/494229822_f6245e2e40.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" >A Match Made In Hell</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/494229818_b0b37d0a7c.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/494229818_b0b37d0a7c.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Soboro-Don: Not Your Typical Mall Chicken Bowl</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">Koshiji was able to redeem itself with some of its other menu choices, however. Their <strong>chicken karaage</strong>, probably the only non-food-on-a-stick item we ordered that night, was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and had nice hints of soy and ginger. We almost mistook our <strong>kaori</strong><strong> (pork belly)</strong> wrapped around subtley spicy <strong>shiso leaf</strong> for grilled mushroom caps upon first glance, but fortunately figured out that they were not someone else's grilled funghi dish. Grilled spirals of <strong>squid (ika)</strong>, scored for even more textural interest and wrapped around shiso leaf, were also delicious. <strong>Toumorokoshi</strong> (<strong>sweet corn</strong>) were charred in just the right spots. And with our orders of what are probably my two favorite meat-on-a-stick of all time--crispy <strong>kawa</strong> (<strong>chicken skin</strong>) and salted-just-right <strong>tan</strong> (<strong>beef tongue</strong>)--koshiji certainly did not disappoint.<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/494229832_527a276dab.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/494229832_527a276dab.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" >It doesn't have to come on a stick to be good</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/494229834_2e28bf6529.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/494229834_2e28bf6529.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" >Some Mo' Better Skewers</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/192/494229826_e4e7295587.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/192/494229826_e4e7295587.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" >Hey, Don't Touch My Corns</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/494248692_d2d30394f5.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/494248692_d2d30394f5.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" >Gotta Love Skin & Tongue</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">All in all, despite the slow service and a couple of misses on a few of their items, Koshiji is a welcome addition to my Little Tokyo dining list. I liked that it was chill, and the awesome company made it that much more fun. Of course if I were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Benes" target="_blank">Elaine Benes</a>, I'd be forced to choose sides--hang with my OG LA foodbloggers or my newly found San Diego ones. But this isn't Seinfeld after all, and it's good to know that I can hang with both. In the same room. At the same Bizarro restaurant.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Restaurant Koshiji</span><br />123 S. Onizuka St. #203 (in Weller Court)<br />Los Angeles, CA 90012<br />(213) 626-4989</span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/12/there-are-los-angeles-foodbloggers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-559799212301565165Tue, 08 May 2007 04:35:00 +00002007-05-07T21:37:18.777-07:00DietJapaneseEating My Way Thinner: Hijiki Nimono<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_xefK2zUR2MU/Rj6Xq2tCJJI/AAAAAAAAAEA/TPMNHQfF-7o/s1600-h/IMG_7411.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061649793705714834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_xefK2zUR2MU/Rj6Xq2tCJJI/AAAAAAAAAEA/TPMNHQfF-7o/s400/IMG_7411.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">It sucks </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/04/does-quarterly-gluttony-have-same-ring.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">trying to eat healthier</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />Because suddenly, I don't want to snack on almonds or fruit. I want cookies and chips. I don't want to simple give my pan a small drizzling of olive oil. I want to brown my food in lots and lots of butter and then deglaze the hell out of it with lots and lots of wine. I don't want whole wheat bread. I want tortillas made with lard.<br /><br />I struggled with many food ideas, looking at recipes from </span><a href="http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Light</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and other healthy eating sources. But the more of these types of recipes I thumbed through, the less appealing they all started to sound with their reduced fat mayo or skim milk substitutions. Not that that's all bad. It's just that sometimes, especially when you're willing to make a big change like this, you want the real deal.<br /><br />Which is exactly why I went knocking on Japan's culinary door for diet inspiration. I've always admired that Japanese cuisine in its truest form can be so absolutely interesting in taste, texture and presentation without being drowned in huge portions or a ton of oil and fat. I figure that it's better to satisfy myself via sensory overload than by stuffing myself, right?<br /><br />Unfortunately, this eating-more-Japanese-food-business would have to exclude some of my favorite deep fried Japanese goodies such as </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/02/fry-daddy-koromaru-at-marukai-pacific.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">menchi katsu</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://blog.jagaimo.com/archive/2005/12/19/2114.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">kabocha korokke</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://elmomonster.blogspot.com/2005/09/chicken-karaage-la-chowhound.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">chicken karaage</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and </span><a href="http://kokonuggetyumyum.blogspot.com/2006/02/kakifurai.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">kaki furai</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. (I'll save those for an occasional weekend treat) But with the huge variety of other healthy foods available, I think I'll be OK.<br /><br />I always look forward to getting little mounds of <strong>hijiki nimono</strong>, or simmered hijiki seaweed, either at Japanese restaurants or at the prepared foods section of Mitsuwa market, so I thought, "Why not make this myself?" With a little help from </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kitchen-Essential-Ingredients-Authentic/dp/1904920020" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Kimiko Barber's <em>The Japanese Kitchen</em></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> (a really informative book with gorgeous photos, by the way) I was one step closer to a tasty meal and a healthier physique.<br /><br />Unless you've tried it yourself, it's hard to get an accurate picture of how hijiki nimono actually tastes but I'll try my best. Texture-wise, the black strips of hijiki are not nearly as thin or slippery as wakame seaweed; I think that they almost have the texture of simmered or steamed carrots with a slightly different bite, which is quite interesting given that there are shredded carrots partying right alongside the hijiki in this dish. Taste-wise, it's a little bitter-sweet, and compliments the saltiness of the soy sauce and the sweetness of the sugar and mirin that it soaks up during the cooking process very nicely. All the ingredients used in this recipe can easily be found at any Japanese or Asian market.<br /><br /></span><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Hijiki Nimino</strong><br />(adapted from Kimiko Barber's The Japanese Kitchen)<br /><br />1 oz. dry hijiki seaweed<br />1 sheet aburage (deep fried tofu)<br />1/2 cup shredded carrot<br />3/4 cup konbu dashi (vegetarian kelp broth-see recipe below) OR water if you're short on time </span></em><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>4 tbsp soy sauce<br />3 tbsp. sugar<br />2 tbsp. mirin<br /><br />-Soak the hijiki in hot water for about half hour then drain.<br />-Put the aburage in a strainer & pour boiling water over it to remove the oil and cut into shreds.<br />-Put the reconsituted hijiki, tofu shreds &amp; carrots in a pot. Add the konbu dashi or water, soy sauce, sugar and mirin.<br />-Cook on low heat until all the liquid is absorbed.<br /><br /><strong>Konbu Dashi (Vegetarian Kelp Broth)</strong><br />1 postcard sized piece of dried konbu (kelp)<br />4 cups water<br /><br />-Make a few tears in the konbu and soak it in the water for a several hours. That's it.</em><br /><br />I enjoyed this delicious hijiki nimono sprinkled with a pinch of toasted sesame seeds and a little steamed rice and edamame on the side. As opposed to many of my gluttonous meals, there was no bloating afterwards, making this particular meal that much better.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Note:</span> The United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand have all issued warnings that traces of inorganic arsenic have been found in hijiki. I'm not sure what to make of this since anything with the word "arsenic" in it is due to sound kinda unappetizing, if ya know what I mean. But I figure that a little hijiki here and there won't hurt since this type of seaweed, until recently, has always been touted for its health benefits and since Japanese people, who by the way are known for their longevity, have had hijiki in their diets for years. As with any food, moderation and variety are key. If you're curious about this whole inorganic arsenic schtick though, you can read about it </span><a href="http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/specif/arsenice.shtml" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.fehd.gov.hk/safefood/report/hijiki/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/faq/hijikiqanda/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, or </span><a href="http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/publications/media-releases/2004-10-21.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/05/eating-my-way-thinner-hijiki-nimono.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-8969846334890837172Sun, 06 May 2007 14:17:00 +00002007-05-06T20:15:16.458-07:00BloggingBudgetDietGeorgeDoes "Quarterly Gluttony" Have The Same Ring?<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_xefK2zUR2MU/Rj6Zl2tCJKI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/tOKXr5-H_KQ/s1600-h/IMG_7345.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061651906829624482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_xefK2zUR2MU/Rj6Zl2tCJKI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/tOKXr5-H_KQ/s400/IMG_7345.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Look at me, I'm all growed up now.</em><br /><br />I was just a wee caterpillar, but over the last three months, I wanted so badly to turn into a butterfly.<br /><br />Only I would have turned into an old, fat, poor butterfly real soon if I didn't watch it. Because in the last three months:<br /><br /><strong>Number One:</strong> The Gluttony Family, including our very dear </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/01/tjs-taste-test-part-i-dont-remember-of.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">gastro-gnome</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/03/hangovers-broccoli-and-gnomes-oh-my.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">George</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, moved into our new home in Alhambra. Being a homeowner is great; not being able to spend as much on food as we did in our renting days is not.<br /><br /><strong>Number Two:</strong> I've gained weight.<br /><br />There, I said it.<br /><br />Not a ton, maybe somewhere in the vicinity of 5-7 pounds. Enough to make my jeans feel really snug and enough to make me thankful that the babydoll and tunic trend is back in full force.<br /><br />I am therefore officially on a budget and a diet. I don't really have a set plan; I don't believe in gimmick diets where you're suddenly not allowed to eat any one form of food (<em>Cut all bananas from your diet and lose ten pounds in as little as three weeks!</em>) so I'm relying on the tried and true method of eat less and exercise more, while at the same time treating myself to new restaurants or full-on calorie-packed recipes on the weekend so that I don't shrivel up and die. As things start to settle down and as I have a little more time to dedicate to blogging (with emphasis on the word <em>little--</em>I'm still really busy you know), I'm hoping that you'll follow me on my spending-less-while-eating-healthier path.<br /><br />If not you can fuck off.<br /><br />See you soon. </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/04/does-quarterly-gluttony-have-same-ring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116814528954807775Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:08:00 +00002007-02-08T22:34:57.859-08:00The Gift Of Grub (Or, Better Late Than Never): Providence, Los Angeles<div align="left"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1600/959477/IMG_6832.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/775192/IMG_6832.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><em>(Yes, I know that i haven't written anything in awhile and that this post is taking place nearly two months after Christmas. I've been busy, so if you have a problem with that, go home. If not, read on...)</em></span></div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;">Christmas is quite lame in my household.<br /><br />That is, until this year.<br /><br />Because when asked by my husband what I wanted for Christmas this year, I responded not with a material object to be opened at a rather anti-climactic gift exchange, but rather with "I want to do the tasting menu at <strong>Providence</strong>." Still pretty anti-climactic since I knew in advance what I was getting, but so much better than Isaac hunting around for a pair of </span><a href="http://www.truereligionbrandjeans.com/Womens_Bobby_Rigid__Whiskey_Creek/pd/np/99/p/904503678.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">True Religion Bobby's in Rigid Whiskey Creek</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> in a size 27 and then me squealing <em>Oh Baby, thank you!!! I totally wanted these!!! *smooooooooch*</em> as I finish unwrapping the gift that I asked for in the first place. I can buy the jeans myself, thank you. But dinner at one of L.A.'s most highly acclaimed restaurants? Now that's not as easy to pick up at the mall on a Saturday afternoon, is it?<br /><br />I got to "open" my gift on a Saturday night at 6:30 pm. It was located on Melrose in the old Patina space and wrapped up in shades of off-white, khaki, and dark brown, all tied together with orangey-red accents. I looked up as we were lead to our table that was located along a wall lined with one long off-white leather banquette; small white disks that either were or resembled shells seemed to dance up the corner of the wall and up the ceiling toward the graceful curves of softly glowing light fixtures. Beaded candleholders in the likeness of sea anemones gave each table some elegant mood lighting in shades of red, orange and gold. The restaurant's decor projects a calm coastal vibe, reminding one of chef <strong>Michael Cimarusti's</strong> seafood creations, without trying too hard either. Based on what we've experienced with other restaurants around town, we expected the service to be more on the pretentious, fake-accent side, but were pleasantly surprised that everyone at our service that night--from the maitre'd to our server to the sommelier--were attentive and knowledgeable, yet laid-back at the same time.<br /><br /></div><p></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/954647/IMG_6846.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/385484/IMG_6846.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Then one by one, my Christmas gifts arrived:<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/190500/IMG_6847.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/208615/IMG_6847.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />An <strong>amuse-bouche</strong> consisting of a miniature glass mug of a cool and foamy fennel soup and a gelatinous saffron petit-four the size of a sugar cube helped to awaken our palates prior to our feast.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/456852/IMG_6852.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/762791/IMG_6852.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 1: Japanese Kanpachi with celery, satsuma tangerine, and American caviar.</strong> The cool and refreshing properties of the slightly foamy cucumber broth and satsuma wedges actually enhanced the ultra-tender fleshy texture of the thinly sliced kanpachi. Little black pearls of American caviar gave each bite a tiny burst of briny flavor.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/641966/IMG_6855.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/779957/IMG_6855.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/316627/IMG_6862.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/25051/IMG_6862.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 2: Jumbo Blue Lump Crab with Truffle, Fresh Egg Sabayon, and Aromatics and Course No. 3: Parsnip Soup with Sweetbreads, Maine Lobster, and Truffle Fondue.</strong> These two courses were probably my favorite courses of the evening. And it wasn't because of the meat factor, although I must say, the lump blue crab and lobster & sweetbreads were excellent. Rather, the stars of the show in these two courses were the liquids, one being an egg sabayon with wonderfully earthy black truffle undertones and the other being a naughty little parmesan and parsnip soup. As each liquid swished lightly between my upper palate and tongue, they evoked feelings of sensuality, of happiness and of comfort, their aromas making me glad that our senses of smell and taste are intertwined.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/117360/IMG_6865.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/766171/IMG_6865.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 4: Japanese Freshwater Eel with Crushed Potato Pancake, Truffle and Quail Egg.</strong> Because of too many bad, overly sauced sushi preparations, I'm not usually a big fan of the eel, but when prepared right, I absolutely love it. In this particular preparation, a small chunk of Japanese freshwater eel sat atop a potato pancake whose crispiness, along with the frilliness of a piece of frisee and the velvety goodness of a quail egg, complimented the striated flesh of the eel perfectly.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/838664/IMG_6876.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/469987/IMG_6876.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 5: Dorade Royale with Bacon, Lamb's Quarter, Cinnamon, and Sauce Vin Rouge.</strong> I'd never heard of the fish in Course #5, which with the word "Royale" attached to it, sounded either very regal or like a French translation of McDonald's Quarter Pounder (a la </span><a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Pulp Fiction</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">). Whatever the case, this ultra fresh white-fleshed sea bream was cooked to form a perfectly seared outer crust. As for its accoutrements, the lamb's quarter tasted like spinach to me, and the carrots, cauliflower and bacon chunks seemed more obligatory than necessary although the cinnamon foam which garnished the plate did provide an interesting spicy/sweet element to the dish.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/242024/IMG_6883.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/105984/IMG_6883.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 6: New Zealand King Salmon with Morroccan Squash, Duck Confit, Baby Red Kale and Chantarelle Mushrooms.</strong> I have to admit that as much as I was loving this dinner, that I was in need of a little substance at this point, which is why I was so grateful for this course and Course #5. The New Zealand King Salmon was as fresh as could be and the duck confit and chantarelles added a hearty touch. But the star of this show was the "wall" of paper thin salmon skin that stood tall behind the two pieces of salmon. It was crisp. It was salty. It was good. Someone should fry some more of those bad boys up and package it as a product just like potato chips. I'd buy it for sure.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/95502/IMG_6887.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/237707/IMG_6887.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 7: Market Cheeses.</strong> One reason we opted for the nine-course tasting menu instead of the five is because the five-course menu does not include the cheese course and I just had to have the cheese course. Now I can't remember the names of the cheeses for the life of me, nor can I remember which countries they came from; all I can tell you is that there was one goat's milk cheese, one sheep's milk cheese and one cow's milk cheese and as my friend Sam </span><a href="http://unrepeatable.livejournal.com/" target="_blank"></a><span style="font-size:85%;">put it once, "I died and went to cheese heaven." Good gawd, I mean, the goat's milk cheese alone was so fucking good that made me wanna go out and do bad stuff, like not bad-bad stuff but good-bad stuff and that says alot about one cheese, right?<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/42741/IMG_6889.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/687468/IMG_6889.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 8: Mojito Sorbet with Avocado-Banana Puree.</strong> The ultra-refreshing mojito sorbet sitting atop a very calm, cool, and collected avocado-banana puree, in just four words, was The Perfect Palate Cleanser.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/264056/IMG_6894.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/75550/IMG_6894.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Course No. 9: Chocolate Cremeaux with Blood Orange Curd and Basil Meringue.</strong> Hmm, chocolate, basil, and orange--whodathunkit? Apparently, these guys did, and the combination of the silky-smooth rich chocolate cream canelle, a slightly spicy basil meringue and a tart blood orange curd really worked.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/1024/675533/IMG_6904.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6220/990/400/30736/IMG_6904.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />And as if nine courses plus an amuse-bouche of pure degustation was not enough, the kind people at Providence gave us a bonus treat of <strong>homemade candies</strong> to feast our senses on: red, sugar coated cubes of some sort of fruit jelly, peanut butter cups with sea salt (move over Reese's) and the softest, most luscious caramels I'd ever tasted.<br /><br />With two glasses each of a fruity white <strong>Bourgogne</strong> from Maison Lerox and a '98 <strong>Chambolle-Musigny</strong> from Regnard, my gift came out to a little over three </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=benjamins" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Benjamins</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> after tax and tip. OK, maybe a little more than any pair of designer jeans I would have asked for, but a better Christmas gift in more ways than anyone could ever imagine.</span></p><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Providence</strong></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;">5955 Melrose Ave.</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;">Los Angeles, CA 90038</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;">(323) 460-4170</span></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.providencela.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.providencela.com</span></a></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/02/gift-of-grub-or-better-late-than-never.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116770473089575909Tue, 02 Jan 2007 02:01:00 +00002007-01-01T18:25:31.003-08:00New Kid On The (Writer's) Block: Santouka Ramen, West L.A.<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6785.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6785.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">I hate when I get writer's block. It's like I have stuff to say, but the words aren't flowing, so I'll just get to the point.<br /><br />I went to the newly-opened <strong>Santouka Ramen</strong> at the West L.A. </span><a href="http://www.mitsuwa.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mitsuwa</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> food court the other day. </span><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">I had the medium-sized shio ramen.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">It was good.<br /><br />I liked it alot.<br /><br />That's all I have to say.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6796.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6796.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Santouka Ramen</span></strong><br />(At the Mitsuwa Marketplace food court)<br />3760 Centinela Ave<br />Los Angeles, CA 90066<br /><br />(To read </span><a href="http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Oishii Eats</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">' wonderful review, which I guarantee to be much more descriptive than mine, go </span><a href="http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/2006/12/santouka-grand-opening.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.)<br /><br /></p></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-kid-on-writers-block-santouka.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116580471261769750Tue, 12 Dec 2006 05:03:00 +00002006-12-11T21:04:36.506-08:00Chinese Comfort Food For The Nostalgic (And Homesick) Soul<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6558.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6558.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">As I was growing up, school holidays meant watching cartoons and children's TV all morning, playing outside with the neighborhood kids all afternoon, and being allowed to stay up later than usual, perhaps to play video games on our </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2600" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Atari 2600</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> or watch television dramas like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasty_%28tv_series%29" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Dynasty</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> even though I wasn't old enough to understand half of the grown-up themes on those shows. Staying home from school also meant home-cooked lunches by Mom, a nice break from sandwiches and school cafeteria food.<br /><br />We were very lucky children, my brother and I, in that we had the best of both cooking worlds. </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/08/heaven-has-new-star-chef-in-loving.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">My Dad</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> liked to be a little more extravagant with his cooking as he cooked with bolder, richer flavors and ingredients and whipped up multiple dishes for each meal--two meats, a vegetable and a soup were the norm for dinner at our family's house. My Mom, however, is more of a simple cook who takes pride in her comforting, usually one-dish meals.<br /><br />One of my favorite Mom foods to eat both growing up and in the present is something we call <strong><em>wui fahn</em></strong> in Cantonese, basically a stir fry of simple ingredients served over rice. Maybe it's homesickness, maybe it's stress, but I've been cooking alot of wui fahn lately--it's hearty, comforting, and incredibly simple to make.<br /><br />The options of wui fahn toppings are wide open--you can pretty much use any type of meat and vegetable--the key is to make the stir fry a little more saucy than your average stir fry so that the gravy mixes with the rice. For this post, I'll show you how I make <strong>wui fahn with boy choy and chicken</strong>. Some other fave combos of mine include beef with Chinese long bean, pork with napa cabbage, and creamed corn (yes, creamed corn!) with chicken.<br /><br />Check it out:<br /><br /><em>First make a pot of rice (long grain recommended).</em><br /><br /><em>Take some chicken thigh and cut it into thin pieces. Marinate with soy sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing cooking wine, sugar and a little cornstarch. Don't ask me how much because I couldn't tell ya--it's all trial and error.</em><br /><br /><em>Then prepare your vegetables. I like to cut the bok choy into thinner pieces, almost like a chiffonade but a little wider. It's really all personal preference however. Smash, but do not chop, one clove of garlic.</em><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6542.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6542.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><em>Make a mixture of a little water (half a cup, maybe?) and a teeny bit of cornstarch and set aside.</em><br /><br /><em>Heat a wok and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and the garlic clove. Stir fry the chicken in the wok until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken from wok and set aside.</em><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6544.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6544.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><em>Add bok choy into wok and cook until tender. Scoot all of the bok choy onto the sides of the wok, forming a little well in the middle and add the water and cornstarch mixture. Stir to get some of those tasty browned bits into the liquid. When the liquid starts to simmer & thicken, add the chicken back into the wok, stirring together with the bok choy and cooking for just a couple more minutes until the bok choy, chicken and sauce have all had a chance to mingle. Spoon mixture over rice and dig in.</em><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6545.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6545.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6547.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6547.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Because I would give anything to be on school holiday again, I like to eat my wui fahn in original old school kid style--with a <em>spoon</em>. There's just something about eating warm, tasty rice with a spoon that makes you feel like life is simple again. </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/12/chinese-comfort-food-for-nostalgic-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116520503705781736Sun, 10 Dec 2006 07:11:00 +00002006-12-09T23:12:24.236-08:00Beer Goggle Cuisine: Hodori, Koreatown<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6506.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6506.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">There are some types of restaurants that leave more of a stink factor on your clothing than others, Korean restaurants being one of them. It made sense, therefore, that because we were going with our friend to the </span><a href="http://www.russellpeters.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Russell Peters</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> show at the Wiltern in Koreatown, we would try our best to avoid restaurants having too much smoky cooking odor in the air. Not that we were sitting close enough to the comedian, best known for his hilarious imitations of various ethnic groups, to be called out for letting off too much stank, but we'd still have our reputations to uphold with hundreds of other audience members sitting around us.<br /><br />I remembered that whenever we'd gone to <strong>Hodori</strong>, a popular late night Korean "fast-food" restaurant, with friends after hitting the bars, we never came out too smoky since everything's cooked in the back. And it was quick and cheap. So to the minimall on the corner of Vermont and Olympic it was.<br /><br />It was weird to pre-party at Hodori, as I'm used to seeing the place bustling with tables of dressed-to-the-nines clubgoers in search of some cheap nourishment to soak up the over-inebriation in their bloodstreams. Instead, the place was only about an eighth full and pretty quiet when we arrived at 6pm, most of the customers being older Korean couples.<br /><br />As excited as we were for our panchan to come to the table, we couldn't help but turn all of our attention to the "Stress Reduction Kit: Bang Head Here" sign (an image all of us have received in many an email forward) printed on the back of our waitress's t-shirt. But the bizarre mental images of people actually doing slamming their heads on the waitresses' backs soon turned into full attention towards the little plates of Korean amuse-bouches in front of us. The <strong>panchan</strong>--an on-the-limp side <strong>baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi</strong>, a decent <strong>kkak-duki (radish kimchi)</strong>, refreshing <strong>bean sprouts</strong>, that bland-but-surprisingly addicting plain <strong>gelatin</strong> with soy sauce dish I've never known the name of, and a hearty Korean-style <strong>potato salad</strong>--was not anywhere near as plentiful as what we're used to in other Korean restaurants and not excellent, but nevertheless welcomed as we were starving. All of this was washed down with ice cold water served in steel bowls, the cool metal making the drink seem that much more refreshing.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6510.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6510.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">when you can count the panchan on one hand, it's not enough</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6504.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6504.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">the widest "cup" i've ever seen</span><br /><br />I ordered their <strong>kalbi dot sot bibim bap</strong>, a dish of rice, egg, vegetables such as marinated daikon, squash, carrots and bean sprouts, and pieces of kalbi short ribs sizzling in a stone pot. No matter where you go, any bibim bap order will come with <strong>gochujang</strong>, or Korean red pepper paste, inside a red squeeze bottle of what people not in the Korean know would mistake for ketchup. After squeezing a bajillion concentric circles of the deep red-colored sauce into the bowl and mixing all the ingredients together with my spoon, I was ready to dig in. Hodori's version was just allright, with a good amount of beef and vegetables, but lacked the right amount of smoky crispiness I love in a dol sot bibim bap. Somehow, I remember this dish, with its heat from temperature as well as from the gochujang, tasting alot better after a night of drinking.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6513.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6513.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">kalbi dol sot bibim bap, aka alcohol sponge</span><br /><br />The same was thought of the <strong>bulgogi</strong>, Korean BBQ'd beef, and the <strong>dak bulgogi</strong>, BBQ'd chicken, that Isaac and our friend ordered. The meats, usually full of smoky garlicky flavor when grilled tableside, arrived on sizzling plates looking and tasting quite bland. Another couple of dishes that usually taste a thousand times better post-bar or club.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6514.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6514.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">no stanky clothes=bland korean bbq</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6515.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6515.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">beer goggles would make this bulgogi better</span><br /><br />Outstanding Korean cuisine is not Hodori's strongpoint, that's for sure. But it's not like they don't have a niche in the Koreatown restaurant market as a late night attraction for those with a blood alcohol level at least a tenth or even to those still giddy with excitement from dancing, a fun night out with friends, or a laugh out loud comedy show in our case. The Happy Horomones are already there--good food is just secondary at that point, right? With its round-the-clock hours and healthy portions, Hodori is just a great place for them to settle down before going home. And you'll stink more of alcohol and cigarette smoke than you will of cooking fumes.<br /><br /><strong>Hodori Restaurant</strong><br />1001 S Vermont Ave<br />Los Angeles, CA 90006<br />(213) 383-3554<br /><br />For dessert, I'm throwing this clip in to give you an idea of the comedy that gave us our Happy Horomones that night. Take a peek:<br /></span><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Betn__Sjct0"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Betn__Sjct0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/12/beer-goggle-cuisine-hodori-koreatown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116502618670495322Sat, 02 Dec 2006 06:50:00 +00002006-12-01T22:53:42.160-08:00Getting It Done: Tacos Baja Ensenada, East L.A.<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6465.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6465.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Being as much of a scatterbrain multitasker as I am, I pretty much rely on the <strong>To-Do List</strong> to organize everything that's going on in my life, both professionally and personally. For example, my pre-weekend planning routine always consists of a list, jotted down in the little notebook that I always keep in my purse, that somehow never deviates much from the following:<br /><br />1. Go to Trader Joes<br />2. Go to 99 Ranch<br />3. Go to California Market<br />4. Go to Target<br />5. Go to Costco<br />6. Clean<br />7. Do laundry<br />8. Figure out what to eat<br /><br />And then within each of those tasks lies a sublist of things I need to get or do. You get the picture. Pretty boring, huh?<br /><br />So it comes as no surprise then, that when I recently gave notice with my </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/12/change-sucks-change-in-plan-sucks-even.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">old employer</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, I made a list of things I had to get done before never again setting foot in that cubicle rat maze located smack dab in the middle of the industrial wasteland better known as Commerce.<br /><br />THINGS I NEED TO DO BEFORE I BLOW THIS JOINT:<br /><br />1. Clean out desk<br />2. Check for and delete any personal files on hard drive<br />3. Get contact info for people that I actually care to keep in contact with<br />4. Review final paycheck and be sure they did not short change me on any vacation payout<br />5. Make any final purchases using employee discount<br />6. Leave folder full of blank </span><a href="http://www.chrisglass.com/journal/downloads/TPSreport.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">TPS reports</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> in drawer as a surprise for my replacement, whoever he/she is<br />7. Go to Tacos Baja Ensenada<br /><br />There haven't been all that many eateries that were on my Absolutely-Need-To-Try-While- Working-In-Commerce list; in fact, </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/01/journey-to-see-my-master-dumpling.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">most</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/01/hawaiis-just-on-other-side-of-tracks.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">of</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/02/baby-got-back-heavy-noodling-monterey.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">them</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> were in Monterey Park, an area which, albeit close to Commerce, is an area I go to often and is not considered a city that I wouldn't really have reason to visit except to go to the </span><a href="http://www.lecreuset.com/usa/home.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Le Creuset</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> outlet at the </span><a href="http://www.citadeloutlets.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Citadel</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. <strong>Tacos Baja Ensenada</strong> in nearby East L.A., however, was an obvious exception. With only five days to go, I made it a point to cross this task off my Exit To-Do list no matter what it took. I checked Outlook to pick a day in which I had no torturously close-to-lunchtime meetings scheduled, hopped in the car <em><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-one-step-program-to-personal.html" target="_blank">by myself</a></em> (yes, I'm an old pro at that now) with a </span><a href="http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&amp;amp;amp;hl=en&tab=wl&amp;q=" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Google Maps</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> printout in hand, and went towards Whittier Blvd. in search of what are considered the best Baja-style tacos in L.A.<br /><br />With its bright lime green exterior, Tacos Baja Ensenada is not hard to spot at all. Arriving before the lunch rush, I was lucky to not have to wait in line to order and snag one of the tiled tables in TBE's long, spare, but bright and clean interior. As I waited for my tacos, I helped myself to condiments at the restaurant's colorful condiment bar: lime wedges, sliced radishes, and a couple of peppers that drew me in with their cool color scheme of chartreuse speckled with reddish-orange. I watched as one of the restaurant's employees selected and scooped fresh seafood from a small counter bar to make freshly prepared <strong>ceviche</strong> and <strong>cocteles</strong>--apparently popular menu items at TBE--and made a mental note that I <em>must</em> try one of these the next time I come out this way.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6471.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6471.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">skittles has nothing on these guys...just look at all those colors!</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6472.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6472.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">seems like it's always happy at this ceviche bar</span><br /><br />This time, I stuck with what TBE is best known for...two <strong>Baja-style fish tacos</strong> and a <strong>shrimp taco</strong> were just fine for my lunchtime appetite that day. Upon first bite into a taco, I could already see why people love this place. In fact, let's go back to what I preach is my main criteria for judging a good taco. No, it's not that it just <em>tastes</em> good. It's that </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-on-road-to-hana.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">a good taco has to be a team effort of all its parts</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, and TBE certainly trains its team members well. You've got the battered fried fish which is fried to the perfect golden brown and that somehow remains crispy, even when paired with the taco's wet ingredients: the perfect amount (meaning not so little that it's almost dry and not so much that it's dripping) of refreshing, slightly tangy <em>crema</em>, and juicy diced tomatoes. Shredded cabbage adds another angle of cool and crisp, and finally, a couple of warm fluffy corn tortillas wrap the whole thing up into a coherent package. The entire experience is a team effort of different flavors and textures--no fighting, no disagreement--now isn't that nice? The shrimp taco was a little different in that the fried popcorn-style shrimp added a bit more of a crunchy dimension to the taco, but was the same in that these taco parts also worked in perfect harmony with each other. The condiments that I'd picked up were also highly complimentary to the cause--a few squirts of lime juice are essential on any fish taco, sliced radishes add even more refreshing crunch, and eaten in moderation, the vinegary peppers were spicy enough to clear my sinuses, but not so much that they overpowered the meal. Too bad I had to go back to work, because a cold beer would have been the only other thing needed to make this meal perfect. Oh man.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6485.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6485.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">there is no "i" in team, nor in TBE</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6479.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6479.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">DG picked a pack of pickled...</span><br /><br />As I was inside TBE, a car happened to careen into a fire hydrant and cause quite a bit of a disruption and traffic getting out of the restaurant's parking lot and back onto the main street.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6486.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6486.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Normally, I would have started to stress out a little over getting back to the office late, but I would be leaving in just a couple days. I therefore added #8 to my Last-Days-At-The-Office To-Do List:<br /><br /><strong>8. Saunter back into the office late without a care in the world...your days are numbered and your belly is happy and full, so who cares?</strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Tacos Baja Ensenada</span></strong><br />5385 Whittier Blvd.<br />Los Angeles, CA 90022<br />(323) 887-1980<br /></span><a href="http://www.tacosbaja.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.tacosbaja.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/12/getting-it-done-tacos-baja-ensenada.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116483501073022216Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:46:00 +00002006-11-29T20:47:17.276-08:00Pinkberry, a.k.a. D.I.N.K.berry<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6612.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6612.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">melrose & la brea is pretty dink-y, wouldn't you say?</span><br /><br />Having finally tried the goods at the overly-hyped frozen yogurt chain, I have to admit that I found the yogurt, having a more sorbet-like icy texture than a rich, creamy one, very refreshing. Paired with some diced strawberries and pineapple as well as some fruity pebbles for some color and crunch, it was the perfect cool-me-down snack on an unseasonably hot November afternoon.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6620.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6620.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">i like how they covered up the "pink" with the $4.95 price sticker</span><br /><br />But at an average of five bucks a pop <em>per person</em> for <em><strong>frozen yogurt</strong></em> (because trust me that I finished a medium with three toppings by myself), my husband and I would have to remain <strong>D.I.N.K.'s</strong> for the rest of our lives (that's <strong>D</strong>uel <strong>I</strong>ncome <strong>N</strong>o <strong>K</strong>ids for those of you not in the know) if we were to continue fueling any sort of Pinkberry habit.<br /><br />D.I.N.K.berry, indeed.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">D.I.N.K.berry, I mean, Pinkberry</span></strong><br />in a DINK-y neighborhood near you<br /></span><a href="http://www.pinkberry.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.pinkberry.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/pinkberry-aka-dinkberry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116262484083122943Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:18:00 +00002006-11-28T20:18:33.330-08:00What The Fuck Is A "Tuffet"?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/the_OC.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/the_OC.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#666666;">(image courtesy of www.seriesadictos.com)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Little Ms. Glutton<br />Wasn't doing nuthin'<br />But eating her curds and whey<br />Along came an offer<br />That came up beside her<br />And took Ms. Glutton away<br /></strong><br /><em>Oh, but what does this all mean, DG???</em><br /><br />It means that Daily Gluttony got a new job, silly. Why? Because quite frankly, curds and whey <em>suck</em>.<br /><br />I apologize for the sluggish posting and for the fact that it's taken me months to tell you about a two week trip to Hawaii (and I'm <em>still</em> not done yet). Shame on me, but you have to understand that the commute from Downtown L.A. to Orange County is taking up alot of my time.<br /><br /><em>Orange County????</em><br /><br />I'll leave you with that for now. See you soon with new posts. </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-fuck-is-tuffet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116362232123719930Wed, 22 Nov 2006 06:04:00 +00002006-11-21T22:12:49.950-08:00Maui, Part 5, The Final Chapter: A Mixed Plate, A Mix Up, And Mixed Feelings--Aloha Mixed Plate<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0997.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0997.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />The first time we went to Lahaina's <strong>Aloha Mixed Plate</strong> was on purpose. Having heard that this restaurant, an offshoot of the </span><a href="http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/index_main.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">Old Lahaina Luau</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, was one of the best bangs for your buck in Maui, Isaac and I headed down the overly commercialized, </span><a href="http://www.crazyshirts.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Crazy Shirts</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">- and </span><a href="http://www.abcstores.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">ABC Stores</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">-laden Front Street to have dinner.<br /><br />The restaurant is basically a huge wood deck facing the ocean in back of a small, shack-like house. Sit in the part of the deck right next to the water and you can eat your meal prohibition-style with no alcoholic beverages at all; sit in the back part of the deck closest to the shack and you can lush it up. We chose the part of the deck closest to the shack for obvious reasons, and though we weren't in that section where we were right up on the ocean's ass, the view and sound of the water were no less spectacular. We could also hear the music from the Old Lahaina Luau next door, which though somewhat overpowering at times, was nice in that we got a little entertainment without actually paying for entertainment.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1239.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1239.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">sit right up here....<br /></span><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0970.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0970.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">...and you can't have this</span><br /><br />My <strong>Hawaiian Plate</strong> was basically just a <strong>kalua pig</strong> plate with the usual two scoop rice and mac salad plus some added acoutrements of <strong>poi</strong> and <strong>lomi lomi salmon</strong>. I don't know if you know this about me, but I have a thing for boiled/braised cabbage, so to be honest, I think the reason I liked the kalua pig so much that night wasn't so much because of the pork itself but more so because of the ample amounts of cabbage it was cooked with. Take that and the fact that I hadn't had much in the way of vegetables over the several days we'd stayed in Maui, so my withdrawals for greens were making me gobble that kalua pig up. As for the pork itself, there were tasty patches that had moist little slivers of nicely browned pork laced with luscious pork fat which I love on kalua pork; at the same time there were dry and bland patches which I made sure to eat with cabbage shreds to make them more palatable. The rice and mac salad served their purpose in making the whole thing stick to my ribs more and I hardly touched the little condiment cups filled with lomi lomi salmon and poi. I had a little taste of the lomi lomi salmon, and let's just say that it did not smell or taste fresh and as for the poi, well, I've always thought it was pointlessly tangy, so I left it alone.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0979.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0979.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">had they had a plain cabbage plate, i'd have ordered that</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0984.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0984.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">what's the poi-pose?</span><br /><br />Isaac's grilled <strong>mahi mahi</strong> was, as all the mahi mahi we'd eaten on the island, very nicely done. The piece of fish was moist, flaky and grilled so that it had a nice tasty charred exterior. There seemed to be two kinds of mahi plates available at Aloha Mixed Plate, one that is served in typical plate lunch format with two scoop rice and mac salad and another that is served in typical American grill format with fries and cole slaw. Though we'd pointed to the one in plate lunch format, there was a little mix up and the fish came out with the wrong starch & salad combo; the mistake was fixed right away however and Isaac was happy once again with rice in his belly.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0976.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0976.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">not quite the mix up i'm referring to</span><br /><br />That, however, is not the mix up that I'm refering to in my post's title. The second time we went to Aloha Mixed Plate was by accident, or more specifically, because we happened to get lost in Maui. Now you're probably wondering, "How the hell does one get lost in Maui??? Isn't it all just one road that goes all the way around the island?" OK, OK, so maybe we didn't get lost in the sense that we wouldn't have eventually found our way back, but rather we were lost in the sense that for about an hour, we didn't know where the fuck we were.<br /><br />On our last night in Maui, we'd originally planned to have dinner at the Paia Fish Market, which according to some of our friends and some locals we'd talked to, had fish that was just as fresh if not fresher than that at </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-b-on-road-from.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mama's Fish House</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, but served in a not-so-tourist-attractiony-atmosphere and at a fraction of the price. Having left all of the good Maui maps and books at the hotel, the only map we had in the rental car was some simple line map inside a cheesy Maui tourist brochure we'd picked up either on the street or in our hotel lobby. And stupid tourists that we were, decided that it'd be a good idea to take the northwestern route from Ka'anapali past Kapalua to Paia since we had yet to see that side of Maui.<br /><br /><em>"Hmm, according to this here map in this here brochure, it looks like the same distance to Paia as our usual route"</em><br /><br />So at about 5pm, we got into the Buick and drove north on Highway 30, instead of the usual drive south and back onto northbound Highway 380 route. It's true what they say about how no one part of Maui is the same--this northwestern part was a bit more rocky than other parts of Maui we'd been to and the unusual rock formations provided an interesting backdrop to the gorgeous ocean that surrounded us. For about an hour, we drove and drove on this windy mountain highway and at first, were awed by all the beautiful scenery until we realized that there were no signs telling us where we were in relation to our destination, that the sun was starting to set and that we only had a quarter tank of gas left.<br /><br /><em>"Hmm, I wonder when this windy road will end..."</em><br /><br /><em>"How much longer do you think?"</em><br /><br />The stupid newlywed tourists (a.k.a. us) were optimistic though, and kept driving in hopes that they'd have to eventually get there, and kept driving until the two lane windy highway turned into a narrow one lane road.<br /><br /><em>"Uh, I don't think we should be on here."</em><br /><br /><em>"Do you think we should turn around?"</em><br /><br />(Yeah, you think?)<br /><br />Fortunately, there was a fruit stand on the side of the road that was still open and I got out and asked the very bored looking teenage girl where we were and how much longer to Paia. Not even looking up at me, she said that we were in a town called </span><a href="http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/html/sites/kahakuloa_village.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Kahakuloa</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and that it was at least another hour and a half drive to get to Paia.<br /><br />Ah, <em>fuck</em>.<br /><br />We had to drive further down in order to find a place to turn the Buick around, and after we finally turned the car around, drove about one mile per hour in silence, shitting bricks and praying that no one would be coming the other way on this narrow, windy one lane road that by the way, is located on the side of a mountain. Don't forget that it was getting dark very fast.<br /><br />And just as we thought we had cleared death when the highway turned into a two-lane road again, things started to get really eerie as what we like to call the "<strong>Maui Hick</strong>"--a man who we could tell was missing teeth even at the speed he was driving--came speeding towards us in some kind of golf cart looking vehicle and chasing after him, a pack of rotweilers. It doesn't end there because a little further up, we encountered a pack of donkeys that had taken the liberty to just chill on the road. The combination of our headlights, the twilight lighting, and the somewhat evil stare of donkeys made the entire experience feel like something out of The Omen. Imagine the joy we felt when we finally saw the lights of Kapalua from a distance. Yeah, yeah, I know you're probably thinking "Where is your sense of adventure, DG?" I'll tell you where it was--we left it L.A.<br /><br />After that surreal experience (and no I was not exagerrating any part of that) we didn't have it in us to go around searching for a place to eat so back to Aloha Mixed Plate it was. This time around, I ordered the <strong>kalbi plate</strong> which wasn't very good as the sauce on the kalbi ribs was way to sweet as well as way too sticky and abundant. Isaac ordered the <strong>shoyu chicken</strong> (sorry, no picture) which was good but nothing special--just teriyaki chicken, basically. The lackluster food didn't stop us from being happy that night though; sometimes there is comfort in the safe and familiar.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1240.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1240.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">far from k-town kalbi</span><br /><br />All in all, I had mixed feelings about Aloha Mixed Plate. On the downside, the food was mediocre to decent at best; on the upside, you really can't beat the price (about $25 for two entrees and two cocktails--cheap by Maui standards) and the prime location right on the water. It was also there for us in a time of distress, which is always allright by us.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/oll_menuAlohaMixedPlate.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Aloha Mixed Plate</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />1285 Front Street<br />Lahaina, HI 96761<br />(808) 661-3322<br /><br />To see Kirk of </span><a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">mmm-yoso!!!</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">'s review, click </span><a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/11/maui_aloha_mixe.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />Well boys and girls, that concludes my recap of our Maui trip--it's about fuckin' time, don't ya think? Don't forget that I still have Oahu to write about (yeah, you thought you were off the hook, didn't you?), but at the rate I'm going, it'll be July before I finish my Hawaii series. Because I'm nice, I'll give all y'all a short break from the Hawaii posts and do a couple of LA-based posts in the interim. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/maui-part-5-final-chapter-mixed-plate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116296142671135301Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:51:00 +00002006-11-14T22:02:47.690-08:00Maui, Part 4, Section C: Don't Forget The Little Guy, A Tale Of Two Islands--Mama Ding's Pasteles<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1268.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1268.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Despite being in the middle of a completely different ocean, just the mere fact of being on a land mass surrounded entirely by water was making my hubby Isaac a wee bit homesick for Puerto Rico. Of course it didn't help the poor guy that the muggy climate was making our clothes stick to us, that we were driving on narrow two lane roads amidst hills covered in lush vegetation, and that the facades of local buildings had blackened over years of basking in humidity...just like in his native island.<br /><br />I could tell that my better half had been missing home from the moment we got off the plane what with </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-on-road-to-hana.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">all the comments about how things he'd been observing on Maui struck a striking resemblance to people, places and things in Puerto Rico</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. Or was it perhaps that he could feel the presence of his peeps? According to something our wedding photographer told us, maybe there was a droplet of validation to why he'd been yearning so much...apparently, Puerto Rican communities, however small, have sprung up through the decades to work in Maui's sugar industry. He also told us that there was indeed a Puerto Rican restaurant called <strong>Mama Ding's Pasteles </strong>right over in Kahului.<br /><br />You can bet that once we got back to the hotel, we made a beeline for the Yellow Pages. We called the restaurant to check their hours and got a recording that the restaurant had been closed for a few weeks but that it would reopen the day before Isaac and I were scheduled to leave the island. Lucky us.<br /><br />With their address scrawled on a slip of hotel stationery, we drove past warehouses, carpet showrooms, and trucking facilities in a very industrial section of Kahului looking for Mama Ding's when suddenly, we saw its small pink facade sanwiched in between a couple of much larger warehouses. The words "Puerto Rican Special" were painted on the window and when we walked in, a huge Puerto Rican flag mounted to the restaurant's wall greeted us...we knew we were in the right place.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1262.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1262.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">yep, this is the place<br /></span><br />Service was extremely friendly from the moment we walked in, but at the same time, we could tell they were a little surprised that a couple of tourists had stopped in. Mama Ding's, a restaurant run by the Caravalho family since 1984, is far from your typical Maui tourist destination, and while Isaac and I aren't the stereotypical tourists donning loud aloha shirts and fanny packs, we don't look like your typical locals either. Nevertheless, the folks at Mama Ding's made us feel like we'd been customers for years. While Isaac was in the back using the restroom, I started shootin' the shit with the young woman behind the counter, part of which included me telling her how we just got married a few days ago and how Isaac was from Puerto Rico and how our photographer told us about this place. To which she responded not by answering to me but rather by excitedly announcing our story to the two gentlemen who were sitting at a nearby table: "Hey, guess what? These guys were just married here and their photographer told them about Mama Ding's! Her husband is from Puerto Rico!!!" To which they responded with "Oh yeah? Allright!" and "Congratulations!" and several questions to Isaac regarding whether or not he spoke Spanish, what part of Puerto Rico he came from and so on and so forth.<br /><br />Like all other Hawaiian local joints, Mama Ding's serves local-style breakfasts--choices of meats such as Portuguese sausage, Vienna sausages or Spam served with eggs and rice--as well as various plate lunches, saimin, fried rice and sandwiches. What is a little more unusual for your typical Hawaiian eatery, however, is the addition of a few Puerto Rican specialties to the mix. There is a <strong>Puerto Rican Breakfast</strong>, which like the other breakfasts, gives you a choice of meat with two eggs any style, but is served instead with gandule rice and a pastel, which I'll get into later. There is also an <strong>Habichuela Plate</strong>, consisting of a Puerto Rican red bean stew served with rice and salad. We went right for the restaurant's most popular menu item and what we came here for--the <strong>Puerto Rican Plate</strong>.<br /><br />One of the questions I am most frequently asked about Puerto Rico is "<em>So what is Puerto Rican food like?</em>" And everytime I'm asked, I don't really know how to answer. Living in L.A. where the Puerto Rican restaurant pickings are slim to none, and not having visited Puerto Rico yet, I haven't had much exposure to Puerto Rican food. (And no, Isaac doesn't really cook--or I don't let him, I should say--so I haven't tried Puerto Rican cuisine via that avenue either) I've pretty much only had real Puerto Rican food once when Isaac's grandmother came to visit and cooked for us, and delicious as it was, it was only one meal so I still couldn't come to a conclusion as to what the exact characteristics of Puerto Rican cooking are. Pre-blogging days, we found a place down in Cypress called Senor Big Ed's that serves both Puerto Rican and Mexican food, and both Isaac and I thought it was *eh* not just by Puerto Rican standards but by regular food standards, so that experience basically does not count. I know that there are alot of fried, roasted and stewed meats. I know that rice and beans are served with just about every meal. From what Isaac tells me, I know that Puerto Rican cuisine is spicy, not in a <em>habanero chile</em> kind of way, but rather in a <em>heavily spiced and seasoned</em> kind of way. Which is why on the rare occasions that Isaac cooks, he adds every spice and seasoning in the spice cabinet to the dish making it turn a deep shade of orangey-reddish brown every single time. So yeah, although Mama Ding's didn't have a full menu of Puerto Rican specialties, I was glad that I had yet another chance to sample Puerto Rican cuisine, even if only a couple of items.<br /><br />I've had <strong>pasteles</strong> only once or twice before, but to me, they still seem like an old friend. We Chinese have something similar in our cuisine called "<em>joong</em>," in which sticky rice filled with savory meat and other fillings is wrapped in a bamboo leaf and boiled; I've been familiar with Mexican and Cuban <em>tamales</em> for a while now. Pasteles are made in a similar fashion to its cross cultural cousins in that tender pork and green olives are surrounded by a masa made with green bananas, wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled. It always amazes me that the people of our cultures, while being so distant and different from from one another, still manage to come up with similar food preparations. Just goes to show that we're not so different after all--we all have the same needs to survive and feed our families, and hence the need to develop ways in which to do so.<br /><br />Now I don't have many benchmarks by which to judge Mama Ding's pasteles, but I can say that they were excellent and that they have become a new benchmark by which to judge future pasteles. Its masa of green banana was moist and supple and had a nice mellowness to it which both complimented and enveloped the savory pork filling just enough so that the whole thing formed one nice tight bundle. At the same time, it wasn't so tight and dense that you couldn't put a fork through the damn thing.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1265.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1265.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">isaac's homesickness on a plate</span><br /><br />I don't think there is really a difference between an <strong>empanadilla</strong> and an empanada, so you just have to naturally like empanadillas because really, who doesn't like empanadas? Any fried meat filled treat that you can pick up and eat with your hands is a friend of mine, and the ones at Mama Ding's are no exception. The shell of our empanandillas had the texture and taste of perfectly browned pie crust and contained a nicely spiced shredded pork filling. I will admit, however, that I could taste a faint hint of cilantro or <em>culantro</em> (a cousin of the </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/04/fight-power.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">evil weed of death</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> that is used frequently in Puerto Rican cooking or so I'm told) in a few bites, so I concentrated on those bites in which I couldn't detect any gag-inducing soapiness and all was good. All of this was served with a slice of chorizo sausage and <strong>arroz con gandules</strong> (rice with pigeon peas), a popular Puerto Rican rice preparation which I happen to really enjoy. It's one of those dishes that isn't so flavorful that it overpowers everything it's served with , but that tastes just slightly enough of achiote-infused oil that it makes you want more.<br /><br />Our Puerto Rican Plates also came with a green salad, which would have otherwise been just your typical green salad had it not been for the addition of a little <strong>bacalao</strong>, or salted cod, and pineapple. Mama's Dings even throws in a <strong>canned peach half</strong> for dessert--something I've never been all too fond of, but that in this specific occasion, reminded me of stuff my own Grandmother might have done when cooking for us kids, and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside because Mama Ding's is just that kind of place.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1264.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1264.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">a little bacalao goes a long way</span><br /><br />In the corner of the restaurant was a TV and VCR playing home videos of Puerto Rican vacations, and as we were finishing up our meals, one of the gentlemen who we'd spoken with earlier introduced himself to us. With eyes and ears on the TV watching and listening to the people and festive music, Frank Caravalho Jr., one of the family owners, and Isaac began reminiscing about the island they both love and miss. Frank Jr. even pulled a photo album of his family's last trip back to Puerto Rico from behind the counter for us to look at. I may not know much about Puerto Rican food yet, but one thing I do know for sure now is when there is so much pride and love for one's own culture, it will show in the food. I am sure, therefore, that as I get to try more and more of it, I won't be disappointed.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1267.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1267.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">wait, i'm <em>boriqua</em> by association--do i count?</span><br /><br />Sadly, Mama Ding's has since closed its doors. Frank Jr. continued to tell us that the restaurant would be closing in just a few weeks so that the Caravalho family could care for his father, Frank Sr., who had been suffering from a form of vascular dementia. </span><a href="http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=24489" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">This article</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> from The Maui News implies that it's not clear whether the restaurant will be closed permanently or not but either way, I'm glad I was able to experience the care Mama Ding's gave to its food and its customers. The Caravalho's made us feel like we were guests in their home--and if you think about it, Mama Ding's represents home in many different ways to many different people. A warm <em>mahalo</em> goes out to the Caravalho family for the wonderful meal and hospitality--you are all in my thoughts and I wish you all the best.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Mama Ding's Pasteles</span></strong><br />(I know it's closed but here's the info anyway)<br />255 E. Alamaha St.<br />Kahului, HI 96732<br />(808) 877-5796 </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/maui-part-4-section-c-dont-forget.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116277102325517239Tue, 07 Nov 2006 05:04:00 +00002006-11-06T21:16:40.760-08:00Maui, Part 4, Section B: Don't Forget The Little Guy--Hitting Up Maui's Local Grindz<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0561.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0561.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">(this is not my idea of good vacation food)</span><br /><br />Allright, fuck </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-2-nurturing-asian-fusion.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">seared ahi</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />Fuck </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-b-on-road-from.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">sauteed onaga</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />Fuck </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/maui-part-4-section-dont-forget-little.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">$40 hotel breakfasts and crappy island style tacos</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />'Cause <em>let's be honest here</em>. You don't go to Hawaii for just that.<br /><br />Before I start to sound like a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">2Pac song </span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">about food, I'll just say it. You go to Hawaii for the <em>local food</em>, my favorite being the plate lunch--you know, the usually bad-for-you-in-one-way-or-another meats served most always with two scoop rice and mac salad. The stuff that doesn't quite fall into any certain ethnic category as far as Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, but that <em>for sure</em> falls into the "hearty," "comforting" and "filling" categories. Hey, get money, take money, whatever. You gotta <em><strong>hit 'em up</strong></em>.<br /><br />The first local joint we hit up in Maui was <strong>Hanafuda Saimin</strong>, located in the Azeka (Long's Drugs) shopping center in Kihei. Starving after a five hour flight from L.A. in which the stupid airline did not serve any food but rather charged us $4 for a shitty "snack pack" and $5 for an Asian chicken salad, we ran into this place while cruising down Kihei Rd. Two things caught our eye as we walked into this small storefront located next to a cheese shop that is named, funny enough, Who Cut The Cheese? One, there were two very large local construction workers sitting at one of the tables slurping up bowls of saimin--a good sign if I ever saw one. Second, the walls are plastered with dollar bills decorated by who I'm assuming are customers. Also nice because it gave us something to look at while waiting for our food.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0607.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0607.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">dolla dolla bill y'all</span><br /><br />We looked at the menu for a couple minutes, trying to decide from a variety of plate lunches consisting of everything from <strong>kalbi ribs</strong> to <strong>katsu</strong> to <strong>curry</strong> but in the end we both decided that some <strong>fried saimin</strong> would hit the spot. Hanafuda lets you pretty much add anything to your saimin, so Isaac and I opted to add some <strong>fried Spam</strong> and <strong>kimchee</strong> into the mix to kick things up a notch.<br /><br />The huge plate was filled to the edge with noodles and came with a scoop of mac salad on the side. Their "noodles to ingredients ratio, " which seemed like a good 2:1, made sure that we didn't get too much noodles nor char siu, spam, kimchee and scallions with everybite. We also liked the nice chewy bite of the noodles. The one thing we didn't like, however, was that the dish was waaaaay too salty, but fortunately, the mellow creamyness of the mac salad and a few glasses of ice water helped to calm it down. We had to be careful to ration the mac salad so that we did not finish it before we finished the saimin, else we'd die of thirst. Despite the salty fried saimin, we thought Hanafuda Saimin was decent, and we'd give it another go the next time we're in South Maui; based on what we observed while we were in the restaurant, it seems as though the restaurant has a good local following since our waitress knew most of the customers by name. It also seemed as though the place makes a mean <strong>Korean Style Fried Chicken</strong>--a dish they had posted up on the dry-erase specials board--as we heard a couple of customers ask for it.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0609.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0609.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">everything's better (but saltier!) with a little spam</span><br /><br /><strong>Kihei Caffe</strong> (no, I am not tripping--they actually spell it with two "F"s) isn't really a traditional local plate lunch joint as much as it is a "regular" cafe that sells sandwiches, salads and burgers and a few local plate style breakfasts and lunches as well. We had Kihei Caffe's breakfast twice while we were in Maui actually; my brother had gone to pick breakfast up one morning and Isaac and I went on a separate occasion during our actual honeymoon. Sitting out on the huge lanai of our condo, my family members enjoyed a variety of Hawaiian style breakfasts such as <strong>Portuguese Sausage and Eggs</strong>, <strong>Loco Moco</strong>, <strong>Corned Beef Hash and Eggs</strong>, and <strong>Macadamia Nut Pancakes</strong> whilst enjoying the morning view of the Pacific. My Portuguese sausage and eggs breakfast hit the spot, with its slightly spicy sliced sausages, fluffy scrambled eggs, and perfectly browned fluffy biscuit. I was a little annoyed at my brother at first because I thought he'd had the good sense to get me rice instead of potatoes with my breakfast, but I later found out that only certain breakfasts come with rice (e.g. the corned beef hash) unless you ask for it. That, and the potatoes, done "homestyle," were delicious--soft on the inside but a little crispy on the outside, with some of the skins left on and a little onion to taste. I had a bite of my Mom's mac-nut pancakes which were nice and fluffy despite the fact that they'd gotten a little cold in transport. My brother's loco moco, however, despite a tasty gravy, was pretty disgusting with its rubbery hamburger patty. (Don't use the photo as a measure though--alot of it got smooshed in the car on the way back)<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0662.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0662.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">not so hawaiian, but still hit the spot</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0666.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0666.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">you'd have to be loco to like this loco moco</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0663.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0663.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">pillowy mac nut pancakes</span><br /><br />This stereotypical "beach shack" eatery has a good following amongst locals and tourists alike as it was quite crowded with both before 9am on a weekday morning. The line was about 6 customers deep and almost going out the door, but service was efficient and friendly. After finding a table on their patio, our Spam & Eggs breakfast plates were soon brought out. I hate to say it, but I was really disappointed in this breakfast. The fried Spam was a little too undergrilled and the biscuit, which had been warm, fluffy and nicely browned on the cut side last time, was cold and crumbly this time around. Knowing that you have to ask to sub rice for potatoes, we asked for rice this time, but realized that we shouldn't have as it was just plain mushy. I hope that Kihei Caffe was just having an off day because I really liked their friendly neighborhood vibe--I mean, McDonald's Spam and Eggs Breakfast kicked this shit out of the water for heaven's sake--and judging from my very decent Portuguese Sausage breakfast a few days prior, it seemed like they were just having a bad day.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1216.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1216.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">makes me wanna sing love shack & rock lobster</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1212.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1212.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">i wanted to like this spam-a-lot, but didn't</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1246.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1246.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">mc-better than mc-kihei caffe's that day</span><br /><br />We'd been told by a couple of people to try this place for some good local grindz, so one afternoon before heading upcountry to the </span><a href="http://www.nps.gov/hale" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Haleakela Crater</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, Isaac and I hit up <strong>Da Kitchen</strong> in Kihei.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0898.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0898.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">located in da' rainbow mall</span><br /><br />This little mini-mall restaurant has more of your typical Hawaiian plate lunch style grub--<strong>teri beef & chicken</strong>, <strong>katsu</strong>, <strong>kalua pork</strong>, <strong>lau lau</strong>, <strong>saimin</strong>, even a chow fun dish they call <strong>"Won Fat Guy's Chow Fun"</strong>--and everything sounded so good that we experienced a slight case of analysis paralysis while scanning the menu. After standing there like idiots, staring at the menu board with our mouths half open in way that people could see the imaginary cartoon bubble over our heads that said "duh," and after a few "go ahead--we don't know what we want yet's" to other customers walking in after us, we finally decided on at least one thing to order.<br /><br />"Uh yeah, could we have a..."<br /><br />(Pause as I kept scanning the menu board)<br /><br />"uhhhhh...a loco moco?"<br /><br />The girl behind the counter wrote it down while we kept staring at the menu then looked back at us to let us know she was ready to take down our next item.<br /><br />"And we'll also have a uh...wait...umm..."<br /><br />The girl behind the counter seemed to know that we needed to be taken out of our misery: "You know, the loco moco is ALOT of food. You two could probably share it and it'd be enough."<br /><br />And you know? She was right. The styrofoam box containing our <strong>loco moco</strong>, a dish I can only describe as a "heart attack on a plate" of hamburger steak and a fried egg over rice and smothered in rich gravy, was literally bursting at the seams and oozing with gravy. The hamburger steak, with its dense patty, had a nice charred beefy taste and was delicious. Mixed with the slightly crisp edges and runny yolk of the fried egg, it proved that protein and cholesterol were indeed good things. A bed of fluffy white rice was the perfect sponge to soak everything up. All was good--all, that is, except for the gravy, which we both thought was a little overkill. There was so much of it, first of all, that it seemed to form a moat of gravy around the egg and second of all, we didn't really care that it had so much onion and mushroom in it. The side of potato-mac salad was pretty damn good with the potato giving it a unique edge, but we would have prefered it not having been soaked in all that gravy. Other than the gravy overload, it was allright--at least our bellies were full to keep us warm for that afternoon's trek up to Maui's volcanic summit.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0901.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0901.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />would you like some loco moco to go with your gravy?<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0924.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0924.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">not such a little guy, this one: the haleakela summit</span><br /><br />Because we were tourists ourselves--it had been over 20 years since I'd been to Maui and it was Isaac's first time--we were a little restricted in both time and location by our vacation schedule, but had we had a little more time on the island, we definitely would have gone to some other local faves. Fuck that East Coast/West Coast shiznit--we're putting </span><a href="http://www.frommers.com/destinations/maui/D32627.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sam Sato's</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/10/maui_honolua_st.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Honolua General Store</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/10/honokowai_okazu.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Honokowai Okazuya &amp; Deli</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, and </span><a href="http://www.mauitime.com/story.aspx?story_id=517" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Kitada's</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> just to name a few on our list of "Hit 'Em Up" joints for next time.<br /><br />Stay tuned for Part 4, Section C when Isaac and I visit another little guy who's all about the island, but not necessarily this island.<br /><br /><strong>Hanafuda Saimin</strong><br />1279 S. Kihei Rd. #304 (located in the Azeka Shopping Center)<br />Kihei, HI 96753<br />(808) 879-9033<br /><br /><strong>Kihei Caffe</strong><br />1945 S. Kihei Rd.<br />Kihei, HI 96753<br />(808) 879-2230<br /></span><a href="http://www.kiheicaffe.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.kiheicaffe.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><strong>Da Kitchen</strong><br />2439 S. Kihei Rd.<br />Kihei, HI 96753<br />(808) 875-7782<br /></span><a href="http://www.da-kitchen.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.da-kitchen.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/maui-part-4-section-b-dont-forget.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116190862854202587Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:40:00 +00002006-11-04T07:50:51.766-08:00Maui, Part 4, Section A: Don't Forget The Little Guy--Tacos in Maui, WTF?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1198.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1198.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">next good/cheap food: at least 5 miles.</span><br /><br />The good news is that you're basking in the throes of paradise. There is no work to do, your inbox is temporarily empty, your boss is not asking you for the seventh time to reformat your report because the CEO is blind. If you felt like you didn't want to move a muscle, you pretty much wouldn't have to, except for maybe a few quick squiggles of your hand to scrawl an illegible room number and signature for yet another mai tai. The sun's rays make you all warm and fuzzy inside, and on the outside, a a nice shade of glowing bronze.<br /><br />The bad news is you're probably stuck in a tourist trap. Which for all the reasons I mentioned above isn't at all a bad thing. But when there are thousands of other people besides yourself on the island for those same exact reasons, restaurateurs are going to try and market to all of us suckers, I mean, tourists.<br /><br /><em>Fine dining with an ocean view!</em><br /><br /><em>Voted Best Restaurant Three Years In A Row! (as determined by Random-Maui-Tourist-Guide)</em><br /><br /><em>Award-winning chefs will prepare Maui's best seafood as you dine under the stars!</em><br /><br />It's all a big to-do production, this tourist-destination restaurant business. Sometimes it's simply annoying, like when Isaac and I decided to not leave our resort one morning for the sake of relaxation and spent forty bucks on a shitty hotel omelette and generic pancakes. Sometimes the food's good, but still too expensive because you're paying not only for the food but for an experience--</span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-b-on-road-from.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">one that would mimick the Disneyland of Fresh Fish</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, if there ever was one. And sometimes, you get a </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-2-nurturing-asian-fusion.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">good one</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, and it's just right.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0870.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0870.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">hey--the pepper was free! the other stuff? not so much.<br /></span><br />But what about the <em>little guy</em>? I mean, surely there's got to be stuff to eat outside of the grandiose resort, right? I'm talking places where there is mostlikely no view or ambiance whatsoever, where the food is maybe served on paper plates or where you can perhaps bus your own table...places that a few locals may even patronize. These were the kinds of places that my hubby and I were actually seeking out on our vacation over the big fancy restaurants, but because we were tourists ourselves, it was a little difficult knowing where all the good ones were (or at least having the time to get to the good ones) despite having done a little bit of research. There were some good ones, but there were certainly some not-so-good ones as you could already tell from </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-on-road-to-hana.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">our very un-extraordinary taco stand experience on the road to Hana</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />Speaking of tacos, we were surprised that there seemed to be somewhat of an interest in them on the island. We knew in the back of our heads that finding good tacos in Maui would be somewhat akin to finding good sushi in the Midwest, yet our curiousity led us to try not only those heinous road to Hana tacos but also tacos from a popular Hawaiian taco chain, Maui Tacos. Just a hop, skip, and a jump from my family's condo rental in Kihei, <strong>Maui Tacos</strong> seemed like a convenient place for a bunch of us grumpy travellers and </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-1-section-b-saying-i-do.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">wedding</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> preppers to grab a quick bite and also to see what all the hub-bub was over tacos on this island.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0646.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0646.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">how do you say "baja fresh" in pidgen?</span><br /><br />Despite the faint glimmer of hope that we'd be wowed by some unique Hawaiian-Mexican fusion flavors, we were--as expected--thoroughly unimpressed. My </span><a href="http://www.bajafresh.com/jump.jsp?itemID=0&itemType=HOME_PAGE" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Baja Fresh</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">-esque two taco combo plate was just allright, but I kind of almost wish it had been really bad, because then it'd been able to kill me quickly without me having to think too much. The combo of somewhat-tasty- steak-with-shredded-lettuce-and-cheese-overkill-on-lukewarm-tortillas-along-with-some-decent-yet-generic-beans-and-rice was so mediocre that it was almost as if someone were trying to kill me with a cookie-cutter. I will give these guys a "A" for service, however, since the guys behind the counter were nothing but smiles and "no problems" even though most of my family members couldn't make up their fucking minds on what to order and literally took up half of the tiny restaurant's space just standing there blankly staring at the menu board. Oh, and by the way, I just found out that Maui Tacos has franchised locations nationwide; meaning I coulda gotten some of this shit in Boise, Idaho if I wanted to.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_0647.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_0647.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">acceptable by maui standards; not so acceptable by l.a. standards</span><br /><br />But oh <em>no</em>--these weren't the last tacos we had in Maui. After a few hours of hanging out and playing around at Makena's beautiful <a href="http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/beaches/BigBeach.htm">Big Beach</a>, we were completely famished, and it just so happened that the <strong>Jawz Tacos truck</strong> was sitting there right as we turned onto Makena Alanui Road. Now you and I both know that despite the taco truck facade, this conveniently located truck preys on hungry beachgoers like myself and is just as much of a tourist trap as any of the resort restaurants in neighboring Wailea. But as hungry as we were and as disheveled as we looked coming straight from the beach with damp clothing and sand sticking to our skin, this little wood-paneled taco truck on the side of the road was a much more logical choice than anything, say, at <a href="http://www.grandwailea.com/">The Grand Wailea</a>.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1218.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1218.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">do you like my "please support the little guy" disguise?</span><br /><br />We all know that on the whole, food in Maui is quite expensive and even the Jawz Taco truck was no exception. A refried bean taco costs 5 dollars and tacos with any kind of meat in them cost at least 6; burritos start at 6 dollars and hot dogs are a whopping $4.50. Isaac and I ordered a couple of mahi mahi tacos to scarf down and what we got was twelve bucks worth of more mediocrity. These tacos were defintely more tightly constructed and better team players than those we had on the Road to Hana, but that's not saying much. The fish was quite fresh, yes, but the taco itself was quite bland. As a general rule for all fish tacos, the sauce is key in tying all the elements of the pillowy tortillas, flaky fish and crisp cabbage together, and the sauce on these bad boys couldn't quite make the cut, leaving the cleaner flavors of the fish and cabbage to just simply sit there doing nothing. And at six bucks a pop, they were quite a ripoff considering I can get a taco bursting with all kinds of flava's back home in LA for under a buck. But we were in Maui after all, and at least we were able to drive back up to Ka'anapali with less acid in our stomachs (as well as less money in our pockets).<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1220.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1220.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">next thing you know, carl's will have a "six-dollar taco"</span><br /><br />After having had tacos from three different places in Maui, I can now say with complete confidence: Don't do it.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Before you start chasing me with dogs and torches for ever considering eating tacos in Maui, let me just assure you that it's not all we ate in terms of cheaper, non-fancy, non-resort food. Stay tuned for Part 4, Section B, when Mr. and Mrs. Gluttony wise up to not eating tacos in Maui and try out some of the "little guys" who serve local fare.<br /><br /><strong>Maui Tacos</strong><br />2411 S. Kihei Rd.<br />Kihei, HI 96753<br />(other locations throughout Hawaii and the U.S.)<br />(808) 879-5005<br /></span><a href="http://www.mauitacos.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.mauitacos.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><strong>Jawz Tacos</strong><br />Makena Alanui Rd (mauka side) near the entrance to Big Beach<br />Makena, HI </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/11/maui-part-4-section-dont-forget-little.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116140910474559920Wed, 25 Oct 2006 04:43:00 +00002006-10-24T22:20:05.383-07:00Maui, Part 3, Section B: On The Road From Hana...A Stop At (Yo') Mama's Fish House<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1139.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1139.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />(Sorry, I just couldn't resist the Yo' Mama part!)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">With a 5:30 pm reservation at one of the most coveted tables in Maui, Isaac and I had a decision to make: Do we turn back now, or do we drive on past <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HÄna,_Hawai">Hana</a> and visit the </span><a href="http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/html/sites/seven_sacred_pools.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">Seven Sacred Pools</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">?<br /><br /><em>Food?</em><br /><br /><em>Or more waterfalls?</em><br /><br /><em>Food?</em><br /><br /><em>Or more waterfalls?</em><br /><br />With such a difficult decision to make, we couldn't help but feel like we were in the Looney Tunes cartoon </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Seasoning" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Rabbit Seasoning</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">: </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"Would you like to shoot me now, or wait 'til you get home?" </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Rabbit season? Or Duck Season? Oh, decisions, decisions...<br /><br />Suddenly, the sound of Daffy Duck screaming to Elmer Fudd resonated in our heads: "Shoot him now! Shoot him now!" which we translated as "Turn back now! Turn back now!" It made sense: <em>everybody</em> knows that there's not much to actually see in Hana itself, and we'd already OD'd on natural pools and waterfalls anyway. And so it was that we decided to skip the beautiful sights at the famous Seven Sacred Pools and did a 180 at </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-on-road-to-hana.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Wai'napanapa State Park</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> to make sure we arrived at our dinner reservations on time. Daffy Duck is a very wise duck.<br /><br /><strong>Mama's Fish House</strong> is located in Pa'ia, an old plantation town on Maui's northern coast. It's not on the main stretch of Highway 36 where all the eccentric little shops are, but it's off on its own just a tad more eastward. After driving in, valet parking your car, and walking around to the restaurant's entrance, you'll feel as if you've been whisked away to a larger, airier version of Disneyland's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Enchanted Tiki Room</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. The decor is true Polynesian kitsch--there are tikis and surfboards and birds-of-paradise as well as <em>real live birds</em> here. I would have normally passed this place off as a little too cheesy for my taste, because there is a difference between Polynesian kitsch that mocks Polynesian kitsch, which is cool, and Polynesian kitsch that really is Polynesian kitsch, which is cheesy. And this place just happens to be kinda cheesy. In pure Hawaiian tourist-destination fashion, they even presented me with a lei since we were on our honeymoon; I was gracious, yes, but I was admittedly also a little embarrased as everyone in the room turned to hem and haw at the "happy couple."<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1144.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1144.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">polly want some kitsch?</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1148.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1148.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">can one OD on kitsch?</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1163.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1163.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">i can just picture the cheesy t-shirt: i got lei'd in maui</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;"> and all i got was this lousy shirt<br /></span><br />Soon the kitschy-ness and the tourist-trap cheesiness would go out the door, however, because the nice people at Mama's Fish House gave us some prime real estate at one of their oceanfront tables which more than made up for the cheese factor.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1184.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1184.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">where'd all the cheesiness go?</span><br /><br />Mama's Fish House's menu focuses on (duh) fresh fish and seafood, and for most of the menu entrees, even mentions the name of the fisherman who caught the fileted and pan-seared bastard that's going to be lying on your plate. I wish they'd also put a little picture of the fisherman next to his name for a little face-to-name association, but they didn't so we just had to let our imaginations run awry. My sauteed onaga was caught by a dude named <strong>Don Wakamatsu</strong>, who I imagined to look like "Uncle Marvin"--one of </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/08/heaven-has-new-star-chef-in-loving.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">my Dad's</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> old friends--a short and pleasant-mannered Japanese man with a mustache who used to bring us freshly caught fish from his fishing expeditions. There was no specific fisherman named for Isaac's opah; the only information we had was that his fish was caught aboard the "<strong>Spacer K</strong>." For kicks, and because we had nothing better to do, we imagined that the opah was caught by a guy we named <strong>Tom Grundy</strong>, an old, onery fisherman with a beard. We pictured him as a rough & gruff kind of fellow, one who maybe wears the same flannel shirt day in and day out; we pictured him to look kinda like </span><a href="http://lost.wikia.com/wiki/Tom" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">that hillbilly "Other" guy</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> on </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Lost</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, you know, the one who sailed up to the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dawson_(Lost)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Michael's</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> escape boat and kidnapped </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Lloyd" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Walt</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1158.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1158.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">it's like my fisherman and i have known each other for years</span><br /><br />A warm and fluffy loaf of whole wheat bread so small & bubbly that it looked like it should have been in a cartoon was brought to our table first to soak up the couple of vodka tonics we'd just downed. An amuse-bouche of carrot-tomato bisque was comforting and soothing going down the hatch, even for a humid Maui evening.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1168.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1168.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">the powerpuff girls could have baked this</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1167.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1167.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">carrot tomato bisque was amusing to my bouche</span><br /><br />Our appetizer of <strong>ahi poke</strong>, served in an oh-so-hip martini glass with taro chip garnishes, came next. The glistening cubes of red ahi tuna were obscenely fresh, but whoever seasoned the dish went a little overboard on the shoyu, making it a bit too salty for our tastes. Some sweet Maui onion added a slight kick which helped to offset the saltiness.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1171.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1171.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">ahi poke: salty, but gets an "A" for effort</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Don Wakamatsu, the catcher of the <strong>sauteed onaga</strong> I had on my plate, did a fine job as this fish, a type of Hawaiian red snapper, was also insanely fresh. Its white flesh was clean tasting with a flaky and tender texture; the preparation and presentation, however, was good, but not phenomenal. The fish was sauteed in a garlic, tomato and caper sauce that was reminiscent of sauces I've tasted at dozens of other restaurants; the rice was pretty much just plain rice given a little tang by the addition of some chopped parsley, and the sauteed vegetables were, well, just a bunch of sauteed vegetables. Good, but nothing out of this world, and I would have expected more for a $46 entree.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1177.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1177.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">call it red snapper and it would have cost 60% less<br /></span><br />Our fictitious fisherman Tom Grundy may not have very good social skills, but man does he catch a mean fish. Isaac's <strong>upcountry style opah</strong> was so obscenely fresh that we actually felt like we were doing something kinda perverse by eating it. It had a texture that was almost creamy and a taste so clean that was a little reminiscent of drinking a tall, ice cold glass of milk. Its preparation was tastier and a little more interesting than that of my onaga, with sweet soy flavors, caramelized Maui onion, tomato, and some chunks of avocado to add a cool edge. Jasmine rice wrapped up in a ti leaf cone and some sauteed baby bok choy came with, as did a pretty magenta colored orchid. (But we didn't care much about that, did we?)<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1178.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1178.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">opah...makes you wanna drink ouzo & break dishes</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />No dessert for us, as we were completely stuffed, but our meal did end with some wonderful hot almond-scented handtowels, some delicious (and gratis!) cubes of coconut custard, and a bill for about 175 bucks.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1190.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1190.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">about the only free thing here</span><br /><br />There is a price for paradise and I suppose this is it. Of course, we didn't mind because we were on our honeymoon after all, but the bottom line is--despite the fresh fish, the million dollar view of the sunset over the Pacific and the attentive service--I think this place is just a little too much buck for the bang. Yo' mama would think so too.<br /><br /><strong>Mama's Fish House</strong><br />799 Poho Place<br />Pa'ia, Maui, HI 96779<br />(808) 579-8488<br /></span><a href="http://www.mamasfishhouse.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.mamasfishhouse.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-b-on-road-from.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-115983003560697740Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:15:00 +00002006-10-20T17:17:11.986-07:00Maui, Part 3, Section A: On The Road To Hana<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1044.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1044.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />I suppose "exotic" is all in the eye of the beholder because when Isaac and I took the <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hana_Highway">Road To Hana</a></strong>, the infamous scenic drive along the northeastern coast of Maui, one of the first things to come out of his mouth was:<br /><br />"<em>What the fuck?</em> This looks just like Puerto Rico."<br /><br />And so with me behind the wheel of our rental Buick LaCrosse taking hairpin turns and yielding to oncoming traffic on one lane bridges, I had to listen to my dear husband mouthing off about how "this part" of our drive looked just like "that part" of his native land.<br /><br />I, on the other hand, <em>loved</em> it because the closest I've come to seeing lush green hillsides, pools, streams and waterfalls in the place I consider home is when I'm driving through the Hollywood Hills during rainy season. And that's only when I'm driving by a house on which the owner has let weeds and shrubbery go awry.<br /><br />My eyes were on major sensory overload driving through this exotic landscape, but would the food on the Road To (and from) Hana be <em>special</em> and <em>exotic</em> as well? Read on...<br /><br />Having driven a couple hours with a few stops here and there to check out the scenery, our stomachs were growling as all we'd had to eat during the course of the day was a lousy breakfast in Lahaina and a bunch of red iso peanuts and nori arare crackers we'd eaten in the car. Needless to say, once we spotted the <strong>Halfway To Hana</strong> stand located a little past the 17 mile marker on Highway 36, we immediately pulled the car over. The stand is popular with tourists making their way to Hana and for good reason: it's a place for those nauseated by the windy car ride to get some fresh air and though they don't sell much, it's pretty much the only place for miles that sells food other than fresh fruit. Their menu is not too extensive, just typical snack bar food like hot dogs that have been rotating under a heat lamp as well as some more Hawaiian selections such as fresh fruit (apple bananas, pineapple spears and coconut wedges), shave ice, and their "famous" banana bread. Because we'd heard so much about the banana bread on the </span><a href="http://www.chowhound.com/boards/show/25" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Chowhound Elsewhere In America Board</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and in the book </span><a href="http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/maui.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Maui Revealed</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, we decided to skip the snack bar food and go with a loaf of that instead. The small 6" loaves are wrapped and ready for purchase at the counter; if you're lucky, you might get one of the freshly made ones that they just brought from the house in the back. The sources are right: the bread is indeed very good--very moist and very fresh; I just didn't think it was all that <em>special since </em>I've had great banana bread from loads of different people & places. Not to toot my own horn, but even I can make great banana bread. (My secret? Add some sour cream...I'll do a separate post one of these days) But as we were two hungry souls on the road to Hana, this banana bread really hit the spot.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1061.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1061.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">are we there yet?</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1065.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1065.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">the infamous loaf</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1067.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1067.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">mmm, nice n' moist!</span><br /><br />About 10 more miles of driving behind other slow moving tourists through this tropical paradise and you'll run into a small grouping of food and fruit stands on the makai (ocean) side of Highway 36. Like most people that pull over at this popular stop, we were not there for the coconuts or bananas but were instead there to try a little piece of what some local woman was serving from behind a big black smoker. There's not much on the menu at the <strong>Up In Smoke BBQ</strong>--only <strong>tacos</strong> (fish, chicken or kalua pig), <strong>hot dogs</strong>, or <strong>baked breadfruit</strong>, so we made the choice to order a couple of <strong>kalua pig tacos</strong> pretty quickly.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1087.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1087.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">up in smoke bbq</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1092.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#666666;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1092.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666666;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">this ain't multiple choice</span></span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1099.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1099.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">up in smoke's next door neighbor</span><br /><br />Having brought our tacos back to the Buick because the seating area in back of the stand smelled a little like pee, we made a little bit of a mess in the car. I am convinced, though, that there were shreds of cabbage and cheese dropping with small globs of salsa all over our laps and seats not because of the mere fact we were eating in the car but because these just weren't very <em>cohesive</em> tacos. And by cohesive, any taco or sandwich fan will know what I mean. I'm not just saying this because I'm from L.A. where I'm spoiled by </span><a href="http://tacohunt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">great tacos</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">. Taco components are not just supposed to work independently; instead, they are <em>independent parts</em> that are supposed to work <em>together</em>, therefore forming a single cohesive work force. The kalua pig in these tacos, for instance, was warm and moist with a nice smoky flavor. Good on its own, right? But the rest of the taco was ice cold, including the tortilla which was not the kind of warm and fluffy flour tortilla that's supposed to cradle the meat like a mother's arms but a cold, tough, and chewy one. The cabbage shreds were cold, and I get that; but the cheese was almost too cold and fell all over my lap. Add to this a bunch of cold Pace Picante Sauce-type salsa and you've got yourself a five dollar taco organization that's devoid of teamwork. I really wanted to like the taco, but unfortunately was sorely disappointed. Out of sheer curiousity, I do wish that we would have tried the baked breadfruit, however.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1097.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1097.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">There is no "I" in the word "team" nor in the word "taco"</span><br /><br />So maybe the food on the road to Hana is nothing to write home about after all, but we weren't there for that anyway, right? Just a couple of miles down Highway 36 we stopped at <strong>Wai'anapanapa State Park</strong> where seeing slate blue waves crashing against awesome black lava rock formations made me completely forget about the lackluster meal at the taco stand. A short walk down to the small, crescent shaped black sand beach made me forget about food alltogether, even if for just a moment.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1100.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1100.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_1124.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_1124.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Stay tuned for Part 3, Section B, when Mr. and Mrs. Gluttony take the road <em>from</em> Hana to one of Maui's most popular restaurants, Mama's Fish House.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Halfway To Hana</span></strong><br />Highway 36, about 1/3 mile past mile 17<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Up In Smoke BBQ</span></strong><br />Highway 36, near mile 28 </span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-3-section-on-road-to-hana.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11953123.post-116093243731074024Tue, 17 Oct 2006 05:43:00 +00002006-10-16T22:57:04.573-07:00Back To LA For A Second: How To Say "I Did" The Downtown LA Way<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/collage1.0.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/collage1.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this important post.<br /><br />Let's stop for a minute to do something a little different, shall we? We're going to leave the beautiful Hawaiian islands and go back to smoggy-ass LA. But don't worry, it won't be all that different than what you've been used to over the last four posts. Why? Because we're going to talk wedding again--yay!<br /><br />Despite all the advantages of having a small wedding (which I know I already pounded into your heads in my last </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-1-section-saying-i-do.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">couple</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-1-section-b-saying-i-do.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">of posts</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">), there will undoubtedly be a teeny-tiny part of you that misses the big, mingly party atmosphere of larger weddings. And so having been back from our </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/maui-part-2-nurturing-asian-fusion.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Hawaiian honeymoon</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> for only two weeks, that teeny-tiny part of us transformed our loft and parking lot in downtown L.A. into a swanky post-wedding party central as we hosted a Help-Us-Celebrate-Our-First-Month-Together-As-Husband-And-Wife shindig for 75 people. This past Saturday, we let the "Hey-We-Can-Still-Be-Young-And-Hip" sides of our personalities shine through: we ate, we drank, we hopped from table to table mingling with friends, neighbors, coworkers and foodbloggers, we satisfied that itty-bitty urge to celebrate our nuptials on a larger scale. But we couldn't have pulled what would normally have been a major feat without having followed a couple of guidelines:<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff3366;">1) Go with what you know and love</span></strong><br /><br />From </span><a href="http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/07/tacos-and-morale-what-concept.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">the first time Isaac and I laid eyes (and mouths) on the tacos from <strong>Taqueria El Zarape</strong></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, we were in love. And when I say Taqueria El Zarape, I'm not talking so much about the restaurant located in Montebello, I'm talking about their catering services where they actually send a guy to whatever place you choose to make <strong>street-style tacos</strong> for you on the spot. What? Yeah, fuckers, you heard me. <em>They send a guy to your house to make tacos for you</em>. This was a no-brainer. We just had to have the taco guy at our party. Period.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6237.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6237.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#666666;">everybody loves victor</span><br /><br />I'm sure we tortured more than a few of the local vagrants as Victor, our taco cook, fired up his grill in our parking lot and the smell of freshly grilled meats and onions started to permeate the downtown LA air. Soon, tacos of succulent carne asada, luscious carnitas and tasty grilled chicken tacos, grilled onions and (hot!) jalapenos, velvety refried beans and fluffy Mexican rice filled everyone's plates. On the side, a variety of garnishes to help one fix their tacos to their hearts' desires: chopped onion and cilantro, spicy red chile salsa, smoky fire roasted tomato salsa, tangy tomatillo salsa, lime wedges and sliced radishes.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6256.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6256.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">eau de taco is a good thing</span><br /><br />The tacos were a hit, but we knew they would be. After all people love grub, so we gave them grub.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff3366;">2) Know who the talent is</span></strong><br /><br />I remember when <strong>Dylan</strong> from </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Eat, Drink and Be Merry</span></strong></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> was just starting out at "</span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2005/11/restaurant-confidential-0-epiphany.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">the restaurant</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">" and with </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2006/02/kitchen-confidential-3-evening-of.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">weekend catering gigs</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> just to get some experience in the world of professional cooking. Over the course of several months, I'd read </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2006/03/kitchen-confidential-5-crabcakes-and.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Dylan's posts</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> chronicling his </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2006/05/kitchen-confidential-6-thats-what.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">cooking</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and </span><a href="http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2006/09/wedding-in-santa-barbara.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">catering adventures</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, and I could tell that my fellow foodblogger friend was true talent who was just waiting to be discovered. It was at one of our fabulous monthly foodblogger food-fests that I asked him if he could help cater our post-wedding celebration.<br /><br />"Sure, I'd be glad to. How many people are you expecting?" Dylan asked.<br /><br />"Um, I think about 75," I responded.<br /><br />Dylan's eyes lit up. "75??? Oh, I don't know..."<br /><br />But after some further discussion, Dylan happily accepted the challenge, and Isaac and I were just relieved to have that part of our party planning crossed off our list. We were never worried that this was the largest group of people that he'd catered by himself thus far...we had complete confidence that Dylan's creations would be nothing short of specatcular, and in the end, he exceeded our expectations in every possible way.<br /><br />With <strong>Jeni</strong> from </span><a href="http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Oishii Eats</span></strong></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and <strong>Yoony</strong> from </span><a href="http://immaeatchu.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Immaeatchu</span></strong></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> in tow, Dylan arrived with his arsenal of ingredients and gear and transformed my kitchen into a well-oiled machine slicing, dicing, frying, piping, and plating, the three of them moving and flowing in perfect harmony. Right before the clock struck 7, the first trays of their hard work were put out with cute little menu cards to describe each of their edible efforts.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6250.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6250.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">dylan & team hard at work</span><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6384.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6384.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">as <a href="http://www.enchantedfans.com/franck/">franck eggelhoffer</a> would say: the "mahn-yoo"</span><br /><br />The <strong>Hawaiian Tuna Poke with Yuzu and Green Apples</strong> was a downright sexy creation. Not only did each piece look beautiful with their little gleaming ruby red cubes of tuna contrasting with the green of diced apple and radish sprouts, but they tasted amazing. I loved how the citrusy yuzu and crisp apple brought out the fresh flavor and tender texture of the tuna; I loved how the crispy bite of the wonton crisp tied the whole thing together. Simply sexy.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6266.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6266.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">super sexy hawaiian tuna poke with yuzu & green apples</span><br /><br />The <strong>Dungeoness Crab Cakes with Remoulade</strong> were little bites of heaven, fried to a perfect golden brown. Each little disc was topped by a tiny dollop of remoulade sauce which provided a nice creamy tang to pair with the slightly spiced flakiness of the dungeoness crab. Excellent.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6267.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6267.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">eliminate all crabbiness with heavenly dungeoness crab cakes</span><br /><br />Edamame hummus was a refreshing twist on the more tradtional concoction of garbanzo beans and tahini in Dylan's <strong>Truffled Edamame Hummus on Parmesan Crisps</strong> appetizer. Add a little truffle oil and put the whole thing on delicate round parmesan crisps and you've got yourself a tiny mouthful of interesting flavors that you'll never forget.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6265.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6265.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">palate pleaser: truffled edamame hummus on parmesan crisps </span><br /><br />If I had to assign a </span><a href="http://www.hbo.com/city/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sex and The City</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> character to the <strong>Spiced Harissa Dip on Pita Triangles</strong>, I'd say they were </span><a href="http://www.hbo.com/city/cast/actor/kim_cattrall.shtml" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">Samantha</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">--a little more forward and voluptuous than the others, but so self-confident that she gets what she wants. And boy, did we bite: the gorgeously maroon-colored pepper paste possessed deep, sultry and smoky properties that hauled you in at the first taste but that were tamed by a few crumbles of mellow feta cheese. Pillowy triangles of pita bread gave these just the right amount of body.<br /><br />From preparation to execution to clean-up, Dylan and team handled our event so effortlessly and so professionally that I would have sworn he'd been catering for years. And from the overwhelming compliments our guests paid to the appetizer spread, I'd say he's got one heck of a bright future in front of him.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff3366;">3. Satisfy those sweet tooths</span></strong><br /><br />...and what better way to satisfy them than with <strong>bite-sized cupcakes</strong> from <strong>Leda's Bakeshop</strong> in Sherman Oaks. Such squeals of joy filled the room when we brought these out that you'd think we'd brought a baby out for everyone to go ga-ga over. But the truth is, these are cuter than any baby ever will be. (OK, except for my 6 month old niece) Each little munchkin cupcake is dressed in a pleated silver cup and wears a darling little "hat" of frosting adorned with colorful candy decorations of flowers, birds, butterflies or dots. Oh, and did I mention? They taste dreamy too. Babies, eat your hearts out.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/640/IMG_6213.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #aaaaaa 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #aaaaaa 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #aaaaaa 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/88/5045/400/IMG_6213.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#666666;">who can possibly resist an army of adorable little babies?</span><br /><br />After the last guest had left, Mr. and Mrs. Gluttony plopped down on the sofa in the middle of our brick- walled space and let out a huge sigh. We were dead tired and could hardly move a muscle, but on the inside we were beaming because our gluttonous affair was a success. And all thanks to people who know good food.<br /><br />Keep these peeps in your party-planning black book. Trust me, you'll thank me someday.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Taqueria El Zarape</span></strong><br />2575 Via Campo<br />Montebello, CA 90640<br />(323) 838-9405<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Dylan at Eat, Drink, &amp; Be Merry</span></strong><br /></span><a href="mailto:eatdrinknbmerry@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">eatdrinknbmerry@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">Leda's Bakeshop</span></strong><br />13722 Ventura Blvd.<br />Sherman Oaks, CA 91423<br />(818) 386-9644<br /></span><a href="http://www.ledasbakeshop.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">www.ledasbakeshop.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span>http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2006/10/back-to-la-for-second-how-to-say-i-did.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daily Gluttony)10